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Reviews by fable2

85

Holds up to it's predecessors.

Arkham Origins is a fantastic game. It lives upto the legacy of its predecessors and in some cases surpasses them. The first thing fans will notice is that the UI/HUD has been redone and it looks great with a new coat of paint. The game also gives you a cool rating based around what you did in combat.

The combat has also had some tweaks done to it. I find it to be slightly more fast paced, the animation sets are much much better and has a greater impact. I also found counters are slightly easier to pull off. The previous titles had an annoying quirk where enemies would strike you even if you'd countered just because you got too close to the cutoff. This helps the combat feel better.

Arkham Origins holds up to the previous titles nicely and while they didn't change the formula or style of the game WB did a great job to ensure the legacy of the series goes on.

85

Good old school Shooter

As like all old school FPS games it depends from your point of view. I found this game very funny. Sometimes repetitiveness, and regenerating health and only 2 weapon limit can annoy you but its still fun. It took me 8 hours to complete this game on hard which is according to FPS games average decent. MP is a hell of a fun too but since many players still cant play it there was lack of players. For any SS, ROTT, DN fans its a great deal with good price.

90

One of the best platfomrers ever.

Rayman is back, in a best in class platformer. The game is brilliant in all aspects: graphics, animation, handling. Mind you, it requires a pad the well known and appreciated xbox 360 is supported and works like a charm in this game. Some innovations will certainly be copied, and that's a good thing.
Rayman Legends is fairly long, it took me approx 20 hours to get to the first ending. But that's only 50% of the game! There are more levels that appear and can be unlocked. And for those that enjoy competition, there are 2 daily and 2 weekly challenges, where your skills to complete a level will be compared to this of other players.

72

Lost Planet in a new skin.

The game isn't that bad as the critic reviews may suggest. The music is good, the visuals are quite acceptable (on my older rig), the storytelling is capturing. The voiceover is good but the audio quality is a bit strange. True, it has some tedious parts and lack of rig-weaponry; somehow, it doesn't feel right. I enjoyed the maintenance tasks with the rig which is well suited for those, but for combat is unsatisfying. Yes it tries to be Dead Space-like, but I felt some Rage and Mass Effect in it. No achievements so there is little to no replay value for me right now even if I left out a bunch of collectibles. The key configuration is a bit awkward and didn't allow me to remap most of the keys, i.e., use E for multiple actions was rejected, even though some keys were by default mapped to many actions at one. Still, its a buy for me.

85

It's just pure fun.

Now here is a game with a premise. The (fully customisable) protagonist of Saints Row IV is a former gang leader-turned-president of the United States. Aliens invade, trapping the people of earth in a matrix-esque simulated prison, leaving a superpowered commander-in-chief to save the world. The game's first mission involves a nuclear terrorist threat and the action actually escalates from there, eventually reaching dizzyingly surreal heights. In gameplay terms, the Saints Row series has never been revolutionary. It started life as a Grand Theft Auto clone, and that's still obvious here, though the superpowers are well-handled, fun and easy to use. The real strength is the writing, which is second to none. Saints Row IV is a brilliantly sharp cavalcade of pop-culture parody, showing a care for good dialogue and wit rarely seen in games. It may be immature, but that doesn't mean it isn't clever. I really recommend you get this game, especially if you didn't play the previous one.

75

Good for adventure gamers.

This is the 1st Adventure game that offers REAL thought processes and puzzles that make sense! The story is a good one, and yes, it's only the first part of the story, but at the end of it was craving more!

The graphics are pretty good and the game play is very easy. There are a few glitches like where to walk and camera angles that get a bit annoying, but still worth the try!

Character development is huge here in the beginning of the game. Just like in any TV show or Movie, it helps to understand what people are doing, thinking, and how they interact with one another. This is no different. The way you interact with someone will change how you can interact with another person and so on.

85

This game is amazing!

Instantly one of the best platformers of all time. I thought that maybe the random levels would only lead to boring redundant levels but I could only be farther from the truth. It's game that can be as challenging as you want it to and even though the levels are random you can save levels to show other people or try again later!

70

A faithful remake.

Honestly, I find the game to be a welcome remake. This is a flashback to tournament style fps. It stays humble to the original Rott, with plenty of nostalgia to be had here. its not to set some modern fps standard , or even meet that standard, it was meant to remake the 1994 Rott to 2013 and it done just that. From the platforming to the puzzles to the fast run in gun shoot first and never ask questions later approach was all part of the original and is intact here , when you take all this into account the game to me deserves between 7 - 8 for accomplishing what the devs set out to do and what they said they were trying to do and they did just that beautifully with minor hiccups that could easily be fixed in a patch.. the game is a easy 7 and a 8 to people who grew up playing the original and can really understand and appreciate what they are playing.

70

Good fun!

Its a pretty standard beat'em up with a lot of action and some effort to make the levels as varied as possible. Good thing is, you can play in co-op with a friend on the same screen and use some pretty funny collaborative attacks. I must say however that player II was disappointed the game did not have some kind of XP system to unlock new moves as well as suffering from a few glitches.
It's good, funny and original but it could definitively be much better

70

A shooter with a great twist!

Going to cut to the chase this game is good. There is a lot of variety and new things like hook shot and streak buffs that aren't in any FPS games that I've played. What makes me score this game a 7 and not a 9 is the current lack of players. But they will be putting this game on steam soon so hopefully there will be more than 14 players on. Being able to create your own maps, skins and guns will keep this game fresh and give it longevity.

90

Mortal Kombat is back on the PC!!

Mortal Kombat for the PC finally got released this year, it is highly addictive, has great gameplay and all the brutality you love is back again.
I played this game with a keyboard and the controls are very easy to handle, you can do all the moves, x-rays, fatalities and babalities without any problem.The gameplay is fluid and the graphics are amazing.The unreal engine really does his job in this game.
Another amazing thing here is the story.It covers the events of the past Mortal Kombat games and truly explains the story of each character.It is very compelling and it hides a few surprises too.
Furthermore, there are many unlockables for you to buy with the points you get from playing, and trust me, you will be playing this game a lot.There are unlockable fatalities, skins, concept art and more.
There is only one big problem that I had with the game, many more people have been having it too, it is the slowdown in the gameplay.However this problem is usually very easy to fix by using the auto-configuration in the game's options.
The final verdict is a solid 9.This is an amazing game with almost no flaws at all, the uninteractive environment is a little turn off for me but it's not a big deal.Other than that the game is amazing and I would recommend it to every fan of the franchise, and of fighting games.

75

A good attempt at something unique.

I really enjoyed my time with this game, all 5,5 hours of it. The vampire powers are pretty cool and varied, the stealth system works okay and since i love stealth games i'm pretty biased towards liking it. Although i didn't know a lot about this game but i noticed right away it was a low budget game not because of the graphics but because of the good-10-years-ago lip synch. Also the animations are pretty floaty but passable, story is kinda meh and forgettable but to my taste the gameplay is solid and fun, at least if you go for the kill everybody undetected route, but the ending seems forced and early, the final bossfight is bad and i didn't get hit once on hard and the final choice you have to make is also forced and feels like the story will continue after it until you see the end credits and realize that you expected the game to be at least 3 hours longer. All in all, the game is fun while it lasts as long as you treat it like a low budget game and don't expect it to be as polished as a AAA title.

85

A great return to TWD.

You'd think 15 minutes for each story wouldn't be enough but darn they pulled it off.
Due to the episodes length, you're thrown into situations much faster then in Season One and must act quickly. You won't fall in love with the characters like you did Lee and Clem but this DLC is done great and perfectly sets up for Season 2.
Already regret some of the choices I made but wouldn't have done it any other way.
Also just for the price its worth picking up.
I love you TellTale.

75

A Good game.

Jack Keane 2: The Fire Within is the sequel to the original, though I did not play the original so I'm evaluating it on it's face.Throughout the game, you are confronted by puzzles. While most are interesting yet easy to work out, there are a few times where it takes you a minute to find all the oddly-placed pieces you need. There is also a fast and rudimentary card-based combat which is fun.
Most important are the setting and characters, who are rich and entertaining.
Overall it's a good action adventure/point-and-click puzzle game that will keep you playing it.

15

Absolutely terrible.

This game is just a pile of garbage. I am the type of person who would try to look at the bright side of everything (this game has one redeeming quality). The game falls short on many, if not all, key points of what makes a game a game. The graphics are alright in some places, but absolutely terrible in many more. The games mechanics are super clunky and unresponsive. The game also lacks visual and audible feedback letting you know if you're doing something right or wrong. Sound is by far the worst part of this game. It lacks a lot of sound effects, and the ones that it does have are awful. For example, this is a biker game. One of the key points of a biker game is the motorcycle. The bikes in this game literally sound like weed wackers. The game's ONE redeeming factor is the music, only because they use proprietary licenses instead of in-house music. The one redeeming factor, however, doesn't matter if music isn't played. Many a level I went through without music ever playing. Checkpointing is poor, story is uninspired, combat is bad, multiplayer is boring. Just don't buy this game. This is an example of a quickly put together game made solely for profit.

70

Good but not great.

Firstly, the A.I seems to have issues and behaving erratically in the battlefield, secondly, most maps that i have played in the game are small and battles lack of anything epic, third the game story is disappointing it feels shallow and generic making the single player part a bit of a chore...

Some units are not balanced for example Snipers are almost worthless and the user interface is not so good designed it is full with useless things for no reason taking more space in the screen than needed

The snow effects and a bit better graphics really cannot make this game called a sequel it feels more like an expansion of the first game. It took seven years in the making and the game does not feel like a sequel at all

Company of heroes 1 was a better game. still, 2 is good RTS to play for a week or two i guess

55

A not so great portal clone.

Magrunner: Dark Pulse is a 3D puzzle game/Portal clone. And they're very open about that. In this game, you have a magnetic glove that allows you to polarize various things around the room to solve the puzzle of how do you get from point A to point B. In between levels, you have to wait in this ridiculous staging area where you're forced to watch holographs that serve as cutscenes when clearly they could have just had the audio running in the background while you solved the puzzles.

Pros include good graphics and a slightly engaging story. The puzzles are very well conceived and very challenging; you may need a tutorial video or two to get through the whole game.

Cons include framerate drops, a failure to understand that in physics opposites attract (in the game, it's the opposite), a really bent and absurd storyline, and painfully-long and cruel load times.

I couldn't get over the failure of physics and the poor programming.

85

Absolutely worth your time.

Remember Me seems like it's destined to be one of the great overlooked gems of this generation. It's criminal how little attention the game is getting. Yes, the traversal and combat mechanics are decidedly average and the plot borrows heavily from Total Recall... but the main character and the vibrantly colorful world of Neo-Paris that she inhabits are just so stylish and interesting that it makes the experience as a whole feel much more than "average". I would highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoyed the style and aesthetic of Mirror's Edge and especially to anyone who is a fan of Ninja Theory's games because Remember Me bears more than a passing resemblance to Heavenly Sword, Enslaved, and DmC.

90

Still a great experience.

As close to a perfect game as you can get. You had stealth elements, perfect combat and fun puzzles. What more could you want? Combat controls are very elegant and simple to grasp, but it is challenging because it is all about timing. It is not a button masher by any means, you have to see your next move, then with one click or key stroke -- execute, then move onto the next. I though it was brilliant and natural. I wish more games approached melee and hand to hand combat in the manner that rocksteady did with this game. Graphics were amazing, voice acting was incredible and the art direction added to the atmosphere. it's still a great experience even if you have already played the sequel (Arkham City).

60

Fun for a some time.

The game features a "you vs you vs world" scenario: build and manage two empires that attempt to destroy each other at every turn while dealing with such things as floods, bandits, etc. To win, you must achieve a pre-determined score that requires your two empire to destroy each of their bases while you build new ones for them.

The game concept is interesting enough, but does get quite tedious at time. Strategy here is not in-depth and you can quite easily climb the difficulty ladder without really focusing on planning and efficiency.

Only two races are present for you to choose from, and both are required. This leads you feeling underpowered in terms of choice and flexibility. It will always ever be "you vs you vs world", and never "you vs you vs you vs you vs world" or something to that extent.

80

A nice Return.

Resident Evil Revelations is an action packed 3rd person shooter just like RE5 and RE6. This adventure is taken place on a boat for most of the time. A lot of similarities can be taken from previous RE games as stated above. For example, a lot of searching and blasting monster type enemies with multiple characters that you can control. Because this was initially ported on the 3DS there is some negatives on this version. The main frustrating moments for me was, NPC's not helping a whole bunch in combat. It's frustrating when the enemy is clearly pursuing you and ignoring your NPC partner all the time. Other negatives in this version are lack of puzzle solving and graphics are above average. There's only really one type of puzzle in game and it's super easy and takes no time to figure out. While the graphics are not up to standard for 2013 and won't blow you away. But of course you have to take the bad with the good. And the good elements of this game are, story is appealing, great character interactions, cool monsters and game play is easy to get into. I just wish we could see more of the classic RE in this version. With all that said I still recommend this game if your a RE fan. And if your new to the series than I would say give Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield (Legendary Resident Evil Characters) a chance to entertain you for awhile. Long live Resident Evil!

95

A masterpiece.

Truly deserving of the name Dues Ex. In this time of linear, scripted and increasingly easy shooting games this game dares to challenge the player to actually think and give true choice of how to play. It still has its flaws like the original, but they're greatly overshadowed and even made invisible by the strengths this juggernaut wears on its sleeves. I applaud Eidos Montreal for giving us the Dues Ex game everyone deserved.

90

A top quality FPS.

I think that this is an amazing sequel. The story is great, the darkling is a funny and entertaining companion, and the noir style graphics are awesome. The co op missions are awesome, they are missions that take place in the single player campaign, ex: Jackie wants someone, in co op you get that some one and bring them to him its awesome because in the campaign Vennie says "I'll talk to the new guys". Making me think "thats awesome". The powers are upgradeable and you will always feel powerful, you can do crazy killmoves and dispatch 10 enemies in maybe around a few seconds depending on how good you are. I recommend this game.

85

Loads of fun.

Reus is a true gem of a game. You play as the god of a planet and effectively terraform this world with the help of 4 adorably calm guardians who each take on the aspect of nature. As you do so mankind settles and you and your guardians try to help mankind flourish. The mechanics of terraforming are streamlined and sophisticated making it a joy to engage with. However the beauty of the game is in its styling. Calming music, gentle guardians and the act of growing nature settle you deeply into the role of caretaker of this planet, offering a uniquely soothing gameplay. I'm a big fan.

80

A good evolution.

Sanctum 2 take most of what made Sanctum good and expand on it to become even better. There's now 4 characters you can choose from, you have a level to get new guns/towers and perks, a lot of different maps (16 currently). Why it has 8 and not 10 is because we are very strictly limited on the number of tower (10) but the tower do makes a different but overall, i feel like this is too few for survival mode. There's also some improvements that could be made in co-op with the way resources are used and the way we select a game. All in all, I prefer this game to the previous one because enemy are more aware of you, the level system make you feel like you are progressing in the game and the sheer number of gun/tower/perk is pretty awesome IMO.

95

An emotional and gripping story.

The Walking Dead video game from Tell Tale Games is quite possibly one of the best stories in any game to date. On the outside it seems to be a fairly simple point and click adventure, but once that adventure begins you will become immersed into one of the best stories you have ever played.

What makes it such a great experience are both the choices you have to make all throughout the game, determining which character lives or dies, who gets what to eat, and overall keeping up the morale of the group, all while having to make choices that you might feel would be the right choice, but might also turn members of your party against you. Plus the time constraints you have to make these choices.

While it may not be the yearly FPS or sports game everyone wants, nor a sequel to a triple A game everyone is looking forward too. The Walking Dead is a game that everyone with any interest whatsoever in an amazing story should play.

90

An entertaining, and hilarious, adventure.

Ubisoft payed homage to the 80's and what a way to do it with Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon.From the beginning of the game to the climax,gamers are taken back into time.The cut scenes are done retro style.But what stands out is the weapons,locations and the blood dragons(they steal the show).This game is the ultimate blockbuster out of the 80's.power glove gave us a true reflection of the game with the release of some soundtracks.The opening theme song makes you want to just listen instead of playing(blows you away).The lack of a final boss fight was my only disappointment.A QTE would have been fair enough.But it still didn't take away the great experience this game had to offer.Hoping ubisoft will continually give gamers such experiences and prove that the FPS genre can truely innovate and is here to stay.

70

Enjoyable for sniping fans.

The weapon ballistics are solid, bullet physics, wind factor and gravity have a decisive impact on your shots. That's vital in a game that has such a big emphasis on sniping. That, along with with pretty graphics and good sound effects (excepting voice acting) and that's pretty much all it has to offer on the good side.

The AI is incredibly accurate, especially on the Sniper Elite difficulty, even at very long range, using submachine guns like the MP40. That might increase the challenge, but it's totally unrealistic. As accurate as it is, it is also dumb. They stop all of a sudden in the middle of the firefight, they take routes they shouldn't and they get easily fooled by rocks thrown by you. This is a popular method to distract the enemy in stealth games, but it's just silly to see a bunch of 3 or 4 nazis going to one spot because they heard something. Also, they sometimes spawn just in front of you and that can get really annoying.

Missions are repetitive and they mainly consist of killing nazis untill you get to kill your target. The story is based on fictional events happening during the second world war.

The gory kill cams are a bit too much for my taste, even though they're greatly executed.

Overall the game is pretty fun, but you can get all you it has to offer from you in a few hours, if you get past the annoying things.

70

A great underground classic.

The first thing I thought of when I loaded up this game, was that it reminded a lot of Red Faction. The graphics, the settings, even the horrible voice acting... but despite some faults, it's an ambitious release.

My first impressions were mixed. The graphics look outdated and sloppy, but it added to the gritty nature and setting. You begin your story with a narrative from a prisoner named Innocence, (horrible name), and then soon find out you play as another prisoner named Roy Temperence (even worse name). Clearly the writing is subpar here, but the RPG style and fight combinations of the game keep it interesting.

The first 10-20 minutes consist of a few fights here and there, most notably with a fat guy that everyone keeps talking about. The exchange in dialogue is beyond cheesy and laughable. It sounds like the actors had 30 minutes to record their lines, and finished them in 15. Not only is the delivery horrible, but the voices themselves are completely mismatched and feel odd when placed with how the character looks.

There's an upgrade system and skill tree that many RPG gamers will find familiar and enjoy. Upgrading weapons and armor from found pieces of scrap and bought items will also be a nice challenge to those looking to upgrade with hidden goodies.

The game slowly opens in scope and plot, and soon you're planning a prison escape with the help of a few friends and guards around the prison you're being held at. I won't ruin any more of it for you, but don't let the dated graphics or bad voice acting sway you from playing this game.

It gets interesting quickly, and promises to be a great underground classic.

70

Worth a play despite the flaws.

Apart from the truly appalling voice acting, terrible lip syncing, vacant NPC stares and average visuals, I am finding myself really enjoying this game. Really. The combat is satisfying and offers some RPG progression and weapon/armor crafting which I am finding very intriguing. Let's face it, who doesn't want to be a Technomancer? Cool. What an effort from a low budget team. Oh, and any game that can incorporate an 'arrow to the knee' quote gets my vote.

80

Highlt addictive and fun.

The game is open to many different tactics and strategies due to the unique skills and gaming method.

The beat of the game is very fast, but it will still take a while to take someone down, means that even if someone surprises you, you will still have the chance to retaliate if you are skillful enough.

I believe that after some class balancing the game will be super for clan fights and leagues
Currently according to my experience, the winning team will be the team with more "Healers" on its side, especially on "Team Death Match".

Advise for the new player, take your time to learn the skills and a configure the key bindings at the tutorial as this part is a little bit frustrating at start, especially when other players are attacking you and you keep using the wrong skill.

To summarize, I would recommend this game to any gamer who lover fast competitive games (like Unreal, Halo etc.).

90

Amazing overall game.

I have finished the game, and it's definitely Bioshock but with more life and more variety.

As gameplay goes, it's the same as Bioshock 2 with more variety. No little sisters to save, no healthpacks and plasmid items you can use to recover health and mana like previous Bioshock games, you know, the one that you can use in the middle of battle by injecting them to you, it's now replaced by health foods and kits that you have to get through the environment, you can use the mechanic hook to kill enemies and travel through the sky like the best roller coaster ride you ever had in your life which you can then use to drop down to an unsuspecting enemy bellow, the main character talks which adds a ton of personality missing from previous Bioshock game, the plasmids abilities are now replaced with Vigor which still kicks ass, Elizabeth can use her special ability to bring objects down to assist you in battle, and the city.... the only word I can perfectly use to describe it is I want to live here when my life is finished. THIS is what you call Heaven. It's worth the money just to buy the game to see the city here without doing anything. It's so awesome that I take screenshots to the scenery here more often than any other game on steam at least until things starts to blow up.

One problem I have with this game is the graphical hiccups I keep on experiencing.

The music in the game is great but in battle it really is not fitting at all. For the regular stroll around the environment it's fitting and beautiful, but when it comes to combat? It's just those stringy music horror theme from the first Bioshock. It works in that game because it takes place in a city overcome with madness and insanity, but in this game taking place in the sky where everything is epic incarnate, I expected something more epic and fitting. The final battle especially, so underwhelming with the song for that part. It's 10 times better with Ride of the Valkyrie. In fact that's what I want you guys to do: when it's time for the final battle, mute the music down and play Ride of the Valkyrie. It fits so well that I am laughing hard to enjoy the chaos I unleash.

I expected the ending to end as it is because of the foreshadowing in the middle of the game, but that's because I've seen plenty of things with the twist. To you guys though, it's going to be mindblowing, and creepy as hell.

80

Good game with loads of content.

I like this game a lot, and contrary to what some of the negative reviewers may say, I am a true fan of the series. I still have the old toys that came out sitting on my shelf with the comics. That said, this game isn't like the old ones, there aren't a ton of puzzles to search through and grab the key for or anything. It is a drastic departure from other members of the series, following much closer in line with Resident Evil 5. It is more action oriented, keeping up with the times and general populace of those who play games more predominately now. Bullets are more readily available, dropping from most enemies, but the enemies take a lot of bullets to put down. The melee system is pretty cool, nothing like spin kicking a zombie to finish them, and conserve some bullets. The game is more realistic, having you transverse buildings, and I do find Leon's campaign to be the most creepy of the bunch. I would as the negative reviewers to judge the game based on its own merit of what it tries to be, and not based on its predecessors, but that is not required here. The game has its negative aspects, like the quicktime events, lord I hate those. The story is pretty good, I wont spoil it here, but I thought it was interesting. So in closing the game isn't perfect, but it is good. You can listen to the "fanboys" I guess if you want, but I don't get some of their arguments. "Capcom just wants money", Well of course they do, they don't make games for sunshine and rainbows. This game is overall a quality game, worth the money, and If you have a good friend play the co-op.

80

One of the best roguelikes to come out in quite some time!

This game is a somewhat above average roguelike. Art design invokes an nice sense of nostalgia with high fidelity textures that remind me of the original "Fallout" game. There is a very interesting crafting system in place and it can take many playthroughs it discover all the recipes available. The game offers up three character classes to choose from, each with it's own distinct playstyle which provides a good amount of replayability. There are 30 levels of increasing difficulty in the game and it takes a decent amount of time to progress through them all, particularly if you are being sure to fully explore each floor. There are several well implemented RPG elements as well in the form of crafting, random traps and enhancements (in the form of genetic altering "potions" and weapon/armor mods that are random each playthrough). It's not all good though. Sound and music is unfortunately rather forgettable as well as being really repetitive. Which brings us to another issue: repetitiveness. To be fair, this is an issue many roguelikes face, but that is no excuse not to overcome it here. Enemies and tilesets get really repetitive, with the tileset only changing once every several floors and new enemies being introduced at a rate of about one every five floors or so. And of course, as with any roguelike, be prepared to die. Often.

80

Absolutely fantastic game!

The teams are very balanced with the smaller dinosaurs having to rely on pack-work or stealth to take down single enemies whereas the humans have some very powerful arsenals at their disposal. The maps are beautifully designed and the game flows very nicely. Should get an even higher rating because this is an indie game. The dinos are intimidating and very powerful but the humans have the advantage of weaponry and maneuverability. There are bugs and it is a bit short on content but that doesn't take away from the fact that you can play as a massive T-Rex that runs over or eats people up! How is that NOT awesome?

95

Excellent game!

It was just by chance that I saw this game and gave it a try, and believe me it was well worth the investment. I have never experienced a video game of with this caliber of story telling since Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. With that said the game is very basic where there is really nothing complicated or confusing about it which allowed me to follow the whole story from start to end. The 16-bit sprites seem to have been the best fit for this game as I could not see this game using 3D polygons and what not. This is a very charming game that I would love seen made into an anime or live action movie. This game will tug on your heartstrings all the way through.

60

Good Concept but bad Execution.

It's an average button masher. Apart from the awesome setting, the insane music, the characters and humor i see nothing outstanding, nothing that would give this game a boost above games such as DMC or Darksiders. That being said, in a short period of gameplay i found quite a few bugs, artifacts and glitches. Nothing to cripple gameplay, mind you, but they annoyed the hell out of me. The gameplay mechanic is sort of clunky and unpolished, but it's a port so that was to be expected. It's a good game but nothing spectacular

90

Simply an amazing game!.

This game is, without a doubt, containing one of the funnest fighting systems I have ever played in an RPG with its flawless physics, traps and balanced bows, swords, staves, and knives. The story is, believable in a fantasy setting but isn't great but holds the game well enough to sending you into battle against evil foes! The graphics are quite good for a game that was made when it was but the real strong point for me was the magic! Every spell is completely unique in its own way, fireballs being like homing missiles while frost spells could freeze enemies or terrain. They all add a very fun twist to the game that no other game has ever succeeded at before now! Definitely recommended if you're looking for an RPG with combat a cut above the rest!

75

Awesome addition to the Sniper Elite series.

After an hour of play I can certainly say this is an awesome addition to the Sniper Elite series. Great set of arsenal at your disposal, kill-cam remains awesome as ever and never gets old and plenty of zombie thrills and spills. Two slight things let this otherwise great game down though 1) very little sniping can be done as you progress as the zombies are obviously attracted to your whereabouts by the gunfire. I ended up pulling out my various hand pistols and assortment of shotguns and machine guns too often. 2) Extremely linear and some level design makes you feel 'hey I could have just hopped over that hedge I saw half a mile back instead of going all the way round and been a bit more sneaky'. These issues aside I'm really having great fun with this game. I have to say I was huuuuge fan of the last Wolfenstein game and I would recommend this game to lovers of the CoD Zombies fans. Not yet had a chance to play co-op but I can see it being a good addition.

90

Tense action sequences, impressive gameplay make this a must buy

Great PC port, for those worried over that aspect of the game. Controls are very fluid and smooth with a keyboard/mouse. Some people hate QTEs, so if you hate them, too bad, think they're a perfectly fine gameplay mechanic. Combat is like the controls, fluid and smooth. I'm shocked, considering Crystal Dynamics has largely made...well...games far inferior to this in the past. Very cinematic gameplay that is a mixture of Uncharted/Assassin's Creed. The optional "Tombs" have been relatively easy. I was always a fan of the Tomb Raider stories/lore, but never a fan of the puzzle-based gameplay in the previous games, and while there's some small element of puzzles in the main game, it's definitely more of an action/adventure than an environment puzzle. Which I think is great. The story, and character evolution of Lara has also been great. Just fantastic presentation, solidly smooth gameplay, and far more likable Lara now that she isn't wearing hotpants with Double D cups. The game is supposed to be a linear game and just because it is linear doesn't mean that's a bad thing. The game runs well on my HD 7950 and TressFX makes Lara's hair look and behave realistically. Unfortunately the hair comes at a significant performance loss, but it's worth it if you're not too bothered about getting 60fps on a high end system and a massive fps drop during the in-engine cutscenes. Well, the multiplayer is not so good but overall is a very good game and you should not miss it. Definitely get this if you're a PC Gamer that hasn't played the Uncharted series and still get it if you have.

90

Hours of fun.

Nowadays you can find not a lot of games that can qualify for a good party racing game.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing transformed delivers a great experience while playing with friends almost everywhere in the game. This is great because you can play up to 4 players via split-screen. A thing that you can find rarely in the games these days unfortunately.
Controls are smooth, but a bit difficult to master in the beginning. Various control mods and great variety of characters make this game a great choice for every picky driver.
A new addition to the series is the ability to transform a vehicle to the boat or a plane. Controls for every type are different so it adds to a learning curve and also to a fun gameplay because a player can change into another type with a bit of skills or continue on another path.
Degree of difficulty is quite hard but the game gradually lets you learn everything before throwing you into the fire of HARD difficulty. Boost challenges and Drift challenges can prove hard even on the easiest difficulty and this is a bit unbalanced. However when a player learns how to drift and use drift boost when needed - the game becomes much easier.
In overall it is a great party game and will delivers countless hours of fun.

70

Overall a nice game.

Much more polished than the previous games from Paradox Interactive (no lagging after several turns, no major bugs etc..). Still has some flaws (diplomatic things and the map is a little messed up, but I guess they could not portray every European nation 100% accurately, also the way you need to chase fleeing enemy units after a combat is annoying). AI feel somewhat better than in previous games. Overall a nice little game in the Napoleonic wars era, that fitts into the developers other historic strategy games line.

50

Not Like Dungeon Keeper, but OK if they patch it.

It's not a sim dungeon full of autonomous minions following needs, but it's got a lot of interesting concepts.

Dig tunnels, gather resources, place rooms, train minions, and explore the local dungeon. The gameplay has a lot of interesting concepts that don't feel nearly as fleshed out as they could have been, but work together to make a somewhat enjoyable game.

Unfortunately the game is riddled with bugs many of which are game crashing, and because units and traps are so limited and rooms are so simple and pre-made, the whole "Craft your perfect dungeon" appeal is missing.

I really want to love this game, games like this are quintessential to the PC gaming experience, this game just doesn't live up to it's potential and it still needs some serious patching. It's an enjoyable distraction if you can forgive it's faulty quirks, but it's not like Dungeon Keeper.

50

Nothing special here, move on.

Oh how I wanted to love this game, but I just can't. The campaign for the most part is a soulless, standard FPS with wildly inaccurate guns which make trying to kill mercenaries in cover a chore. The low res textures make the game look dated, attempts are generating atmosphere are a bit hit and miss, the dialogue is nothing special, and the multi-player is a guilty pleasure, but I got to the point where all I wanted to do was play the xenomorphs and got bored whenever I was forced to play as the marines. Leaping around the arenas and crawling across ceilings and walls is mighty good fun, but often the game can't understand exactly what you're doing due to the complex nature of the terrain and your character will start doing donuts a wall or something.

50

One of the most disappointing games I've played.

I liked the look of the videos and how the creators described it as trying to make the music the centerpiece of the game instead of simply the background. Got me thinking this was an "art-type" survival horror game. Boy was I wrong.

For starters the music isn't all that good. Yes it's interesting for a while but my god how long can you listen to the same damn score? The music never changes! I expected something closer to Dear Esther where the music changed based on your location and everything came together to give you an amazing sensation (in this case I expected fear). What I got was a long, repetitive, and eventually annoying soundtrack. It wasn't subtle or engaging it just started grinding on my nerves.

Aside from the music the puzzle system is incredibly convoluted. I'm not saying that because I had a hard time and rage quit the game every five and a half seconds, I actually beat the game in a single 10 hour sitting. The only reason I figured out some of this stuff is because I'm either insane or I got really lucky. There are several puzzles that are just trial and error, there is no way to figure it out before you do it. That probably constituted at least an hour of game play right there, and an hour of trying to avoid smashing my speakers against the wall.

Finally I have to call these guys out on their poorly designed paranormal phenomena. In smaller words, the stuff that's supposed to be scary...isn't. Whenever something scary happens you're initially shocked a bit, but you get over it almost immediately. There's no build up, no "what's going to happen now" feeling, it's just fifteen seconds of a phenomena and then poof gone. When you look back on it you get this empty feeling like there should have been "something" more. Some sort of build up to the event, something that makes you feel suspense before that shock. Instead you get the initial shock and then nothing. It's almost better just not having it at all.

70

Lots of promise but many missed opportunities.

I really looked forward to Omerta coming out. I have been looking for something similar to Gangsters for quite some time. There is some fun to be had with the game, but I think this just scratches the surface of what this game could be.

You fight for territory by buying up properties and establishing businesses in the neighborhood. This is rudimentary at best and could be expanded greatly. Money flows in and out in a seemingly random fashion and once you own a business you really do very little with them.

You constantly move to new territories and lose your progress from previous missions. Cash and influence disappear and you start basically from scratch.

The combat is fun, but minimal in the game really. It can be pretty easy at times, but its still enjoyable. I'd like to have more background on the gang you recruit as well. Its all just too....shallow. Its hard to get involved.

80

Worth the effort.

I loved it the first time the revamped music from ES III played as I was exploring Solstheim. The atmosphere of Vvardenfell was there, including the washed out colors, the background noises and slightly eccentric characters. Yes there are lots of caves and tombs, as well as Draugr, and yes there are dragons, (and oh, yea, and a lot of Dunmer - this is Morrowind after all) but the new enemies of teh ash wastes are tough and the boss fights challenging. I particularly like the lore twists, including an isolated band of Nords who worship nature in the old way, and also a different (evil) take and what it means to be Dragonborn. My favorite though has to be the mildly twisted Telvanni wizard and his set of side quests.

Lots of new gear to be found and, after an extensive set of missions, a new house complete with all the accessories - though a bit on the ugly side. Worth exploring every nook and cranny and losing yourself in the atmosphere. Don't let your mind wander though, as there are some things out in the ash wastes (and apocrypha) that will kill you quickly!

The dragon taming ability was not very useful, except the one thing you absolutely needed it for - a bit clumsy to manage though an interesting idea. What I found more useful is the abundance of skill books (and books in general) that are available in apocrypha In particular the Black Books offer some very useful abilities - including one that makes exploring hostile areas with your companions a lot less annoying. Don't forget to look in all the corners.

50

Just a mediocre Aracde Flight-sim.

The controls are very basic, if you play it in Battlefield series game then you will be right at home. Everything is simplified, there is no cockpit view, the whole game you spend on 3rd person view of the plane you're flying.

And you get to fly tons of fighters, real or fake. You cannot change layouts, all planes come with existing loadouts.

Game's campaign try to make some kind story, which makes no sense whatsoever, it seems they were actually trying to inject some kind of drama in the plot, but all it comes down to is a failure, and yes the voice acting is just as bad as the plot.

All missions feels the same, take off, fly to nav point, kill air targets and ground targets that pops up. There will be plenty of infinite spawning bad guys in most of the missions, as long as you don't finish the objective they will keep spawn, and oh yeah you get infinite weapons, it just take a few second to recharge your missile or bombs.

I finish this game from beginning to end just under 3 hours total, it was fun while it lasted, as long as you don't take it too seriously.

54

A mediocre racer.

I didn't like Ridge Racer Unbounded. First I'd like to say that I wasn't big fan of Ridge Racer brand so partially that was my fault because I expected to be more like Flatout serial (because of Bugbear). It runs smoothly, it has lots of content, but it feels somehow outdated at least for the PC. I hated that console menus and obvious lack of config options. Lighting effects can be annoying sometimes but generally they look cool. What about driving? It is ok - arcade like, when you get grip you can easily maneuver your vehicle. However I didn't like drifting, it's kind of unrealistic but as I have found out later it's main feature/characteristic of RR games in the past. What I expected to be better are car physics and car destruction, FO UC is much better in both and I thought that creators of that game can do only better, but I was wrong. So if you like to play Flatout stick to it, don't waste your time on RR, it's quite different game (as it should be).

60

Quite Short and mediocre.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, 2nd Edition is a game that is the show in whole. There is nothing in this game to divert the idea of the show away from the game. The graphics score is low because there is really no graphics in the game apart from maybe a chair and a menu. The gameplay really depends on if you like the idea of question and answer things.

The sound is okay with all of the voices and little sound effects but it doesn't go beyond that and it doesn't need to. All it is, is the show just put into the game and it is trying to reflect the show as much as possible with the game. The length is actually quite short because it is just a TV show game but you can play it again and again. This is really just a game of the TV show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

69

Easy but good adventure game.

I really enjoyed this game, great and fun to play, good characterization, nice music, nice graphics, and the puzzles fit very well into the game.
The puzzles are quite easy though, hence the notch down, you will never ever get stuck - but on the plus side, this helped the game story whizz along nicely. This game shows where point-and-click games need to go, better graphics, better characterization, and puzzles embedded in the game. It's not there yet, but Lost Horizon for me is definitely one the the better games of its genre to be got. If you liked Broken Sword, Syberia or Secret Files, add this to your collection.

80

Space-sim at it's finest.

If you are a Space simulator fan, look no further. The X series is here to reveal this Space merchant, dogfighter, miner, explorer, bountyhunter, pirate that was suppressed inside you for so long.

A little bit difficult at the beginning, but once you get the hang of it nothing can stop you. The choices you have are unlimited. The detail on this game is unbelievable. The sad fact that there are no cockpits on the game is canceled by the big modding community, that offers you not only cockpits but many other mods to improve your experience an adjust the game to your needs.

80

it's good but it's not the AC we knew.

I gotta admit I was leary going in but the newest Ace Combat holds onto you and refuses to let go without first dazzling you with it heart pumping visuals and grip tightening suspenseful flight simulation. Some purists and mainstays of the series might say it's too different but anyone who has actually played this game must admit it has charm and action bursting from it pores.
The new game can control much like the last games, with a few tweaks anyway. Once I got used to the new Dog Fight mode and Attack Mode and the counter attacks I found myself using them aggressively without thinking. Also many of the changes only serve to add even more flare and flash. The series was beginning to get old honestly but this iteration serves to add a much needed shot of adrenaline in the arm to the mildly stagnant gaming franchise.
There is no earning money and buying planes like the old games which is regrettable but it does streamline the experience. Vehicles are instead unlocked overtime, this may feel like a cop out to many but the gradual unlocking of planes, bombers, and helos gives it a very upbeat arcade feel that isn't at all a bad thing.
The bombing and helicopter missions help spice up and split up the flight segments just when thing might start to get slow. The timing of the gaming is very cinematic and has been done nearly perfect. On some occasions it might seem a bit off but overall the action sequences will often have you gripping the controller tight enough to break it.

81

Classic old school fun.

To be honest this game is what I expected to be; fast paced old-school violence. A lot of the reviews I'm seeing complain about the AI being stupid but fail to realize this was done on purpose. It's the AI you'll find in this type of classic shooter. What other kind of AI would you want? Think of this as Quake, Doom and Unreal bottled up. I LOVE how the AI are overly aggressive, run directly straight for you with weapons swinging. It's just the style of game play they went for. Not to mention there are HORDES of them, some with shields which makes attention to aiming a must. The graphics are polished which adds to the gloomy ambiance to the levels and monsters (AI). I couldn't have asked anything more for this classic shooter. If you don't "get" this game, then you'll probably think the same thing as the crappy reviews. Complaining about stuff which was intentional. This is a game is for die hard fans of old-school shooter, So if you are a fan of this genre you can not miss this one.

89

A memorable story , great design, and overall just fun.

For me, playing games is as much about the story as anything else. So, when I hear about games like Alan Wake I get interested pretty quick. I enjoyed this one thoroughly from start to finish though some might find portions of it a bit annoying.

Visually, Alan Wake is a beautiful piece of work though, admittedly, by the end of the game you sort of wish there was more variety. Too, artistically, with it being told like a television series, it provides a somewhat unique take on how it tells the story and paces things. For me, the pacing of the game was one of the best aspects of the game as they intermixed action sequences with well-crafted story segments that all tied together quite nicely. Though the last episode seems to stretch things just a little bit too long, it does wrap up things quite nicely in anticipation of another game.

The gameplay was generally pretty good though in a few cases I found myself frustrated with annoying camera angles and/or the tactics of a particular sequence. Most noticeably, the game play proceeds quite normally but then in one of the earlier episodes the challenge just jumps up a bit dramatically. Once you get used to this it is no problem but initially it sort of takes you by surprise which caused me a little frustration. I couldn't help but laugh at the reality that this is likely the only game in history where you'll fight garbage bins and farm equipment. lol As odd as that sounds to someone who might not have played the game, all of it fits in fine when it's all said and done.

Alan Wake, in my opinion, is definitely one of the better games this generation. It demonstrates that a well crafted story CAN also be fun and doesn't have to entirely be caught up with running around shooting things hour after hour. Unfortunately, it is too often the case that there is a compromise in one aspect of a game but, thankfully, with Alan Wake things are generally pretty balanced.

70

Fun and fast Paced.

Space? Check. Giant ships? Check. Transforming death-spitting robots? Got that too. Chances are that if you enjoyed any of the Ace Combat series or had fun watching mecha anime, you'll lap this up. The first thing that will strike you is the graphics; for an indie offering they are excellent and really lend themselves to the game and it's mechanics. The gameplay is generally good although the difficulty curve will be very sharp for players not used to flight games, but after you clear that initial fence you'll be having a whale of a time blasting down those darn colonists. The story is the usual objective based bibble, "Save /destroy the X to defeat/save the Y", but you can forgive it as the game would suffer if it were dialogue heavy That said the game otherwise is an excellent indie offering that deserves your consideration for being fun, challenging and the only one of it's kind for long time.

85

A great adventure game.

I'm enjoying the heck out of this game! I'm a long-time adventure fan and huge fan of Double Fine's titles. I'm a few hours in and so far I am not disappointed. I really like the idea of several different characters with their own back story and the execution, presentation and puzzles overall is brilliant. Only minor quibble is the control precision, but that's easily overlooked. I just wish they could make more frequent and larger scale games of this type. All in all, cool and very funny adventure game! Recommended.

80

Fast paced and great fun.

I was feeling a little skeptical initially as a result of the controversy surrounding its release. I am very glad that I gave into my curiosity and bought it. It was fast paced, and consistently exciting, the surroundings revolved around me and were great to look at. I absolutely love the vibrant colour palate used and I found myself playing for hours on end. I quite like Dante's new look and raw attitude and the combat is so fluent and fun. I found myself striving to pull off perfect combos and experimenting regularly in the training mode. one of the best and most addictive games I've played in a while. Thank you very much Ninja theory. Keep up the good work.

70

Good game overall, but it has it's flaws.

A reasonable game overall. The exhibition mode is good however the World Tour gets monotonous towards the end. The career should have included the opportunity to play with the tennis stars over a calender year (or more) and making them win the tournaments. The drop shot is probably the worst thing in the game, getting a point with the drop shot is very difficult as a drop shot is performed with a lob as opposed to slice. Overall an enjoyable game if you want to play the exhibition mode but not for too long.

90

That was Fantastic.

this is a fantastic point and click and game. Great story, characters, graphics, music, atmosphere, creative puzzles, tons of dark jokes, everything is perfect in this little adventure. Deadlic entertainment showed us once more, that they are the best this genre.

85

Fresh and innovative.

A new star is born in the platformer genre with great gameplay, visuals and level design.The controls are great with a gamepad. The soundtrack is awesome, it took me some minutes to be comfortable with the music switch, but at the end it's so great. It's been a while I haven't seen a fast paced platformer of this quality on PC, and the price is very low. The first levels are very easy, but the difficulty grows rapidly.The boss fights are epic, the last one very challenging. More you progress in the game better and longer the levels are. The last world of the game is for sure the most interesting. It's not so common that games are more and more fun during level progression.
There's also replayability with the different game modes (score attack, hardcore,uberhardcore....)
The game has nothing to do anymore with the original mario clone I played when I was young on amiga, it's fresh and innovative I want more of those kind of games,really great job. Waiting for a dlc or a sequel.

75

A refreshing Update to Dead Rising 2.

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record is basically a updated version of Dead Rising 2, but in the view of Frank West's perspective. If you are a true Frank West, i recommend you play this instead of Dead Rising 2. The story line of this game is mostly the same as Dead Rising 2, but the story has been twisted a little bit, as well as Overtime Mode to show what Frank West would have experienced a second time in zombie hell. This game welcomes back the camera feature as well as an amusement park, new weapons, psychopath, and vehicle, as well as DLC's and Cheat Codes! Jump scares have been added, but are really unnecessary. The game also features a Sandbox mode instead of a Terror Is Reality competition game show like Dead Rising did. So now you can freely roam the map without any time limits! It is way easier than Dead Rising 1, with better AI and weapons. It is well worth the price if you are looking a bloody good time!

80

Brings back feel of Classic Point & Click Games.

Wonderful, wonderful art, a well-told story, challenging, (mostly) logical puzzles and likeable characters. I confess I had to use a walkthrough a few times, but only because a few objects (like the crack in the statue of the ork-god) are easy to miss. I really love adventure games, and this is an especially good one - I am a sucker for well-told stories. I also feel like I should mention that I really liked the ending, which is where many other Adventure games failed. All in all I'd say this is something you should certainly check out if you like point & click games. I really am glad they are experiencing some kind of small revival.

70

Delivers some satisfaction for those who like the genre.

Krater is a dungeon crawler, similar to the mechanics of Diablo, Torchlight, (Of course they aren´t the same), but still the things that you do in these games are similar, (Explore the world, Kill monsters, Level Up), So...the necessary to the game be called a Dungeon Crawler and a Hack and Slash game.

In Krater you start with three characters, you have a Melee Fighter Character, a Ranged Fighter Character and a Medic Character, and later you have the option to have a Rogue Type Character. Like Diablo and Torchlight you can create a Character, and level up like you want (having several abilities, evolving stats, etc…). This is one of the points where Krater fails to deliver to the gamer, because each character you control only has two abilities, sometimes differing of others, but still this is where Krater could deliver more to the player, but you can evolve each abilities with perk´s and boost each character with different boosts (like more stamina, more focus, etc…).

About the exploration mode in Krater, it´s not that complicated you begin in a Small Town, and you begin to explore more places along doing and complete more quests, it´s just that simple.

The battle mode in Krater, it´s not perfect but it isn´t horrible, the problem is, because of having only two abilities for each character, in battle you are constantly spamming always the same abilities, so at some point the battles become a little boring because it´s always the same thing.

Overall, Krater isn´t the perfect game as we see it, still we are talking about an Indie game, made by an Independent company named Fatshark with a small budget, we aren´t talking about Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Square Enix, we are talking about a Indie Company that made a game as they could, like they wanted in their way in a world with a great competition in the gaming market, so I think this game deserves some credit rather being treated like trash, therefor I'm giving a score of 7.0.

70

A nice Surprise.

This game actually surprised me, i didn't expect much going in it but i ended up finding a very well made flight simulation game. although i found the story to be a bit dull the gameplay itself was worth it up to a point.

80

A good Flight Sim game.

nice improvement on the series, keyboard+mouse is a little iffy but i don't know why you are playing a flight game if you don't at least have an xbox controller. missions are varied, all your pilots now gain experience from combat and missions and get bonuses/buffs when they achieve certain things. graphics look good, nothing amazing but the planes are detailed and that's what you'll be staring at majority of your time. definitely worth picking up if you are a fan of the genre or just want to try a good combat flight game out

70

A good addition to the series.

As a fan of the original series, there are few things that annoy me. First is that for the first 4 islands (at least) your troop selection is very limited, and the enemy is 95% undead, with some bears, snakes and spiders here and there. What made the original game great is that you build your army, and adapt it to a wide variety of battles. In the original game, you fought varying armies of neutrals, humans, dwarves, orcs, etc. In the original series, you had to use real tactics to defeat armies. I do not see this too much in this game. Playing it on Hard, the majority of the battles feel way too easy and predictable. There's one ranged undead unit, occasionally a necromancer. I have more or less the same viking army. After 200 battles this gets repetitive. The units are cheap, and before level 15 I have about 400k gold, which I don't remember happening in other titles. My other complaints are poor translation quality, I cannot make sense of some traits (ex: Favorite of the Gods) and abilities. I've seen 1 pirate in 4 islands. Some skills are broken (like the random blessing of witch hunters). Other than that, the game is good, and is worth it.

80

An imaginative and well-designed platformer.

The studio was partly responsible for Bionic Commando Rearmed, and although I was never a big fan of that game, I love PID. Joining the ranks of Bastion, Limbo and Braid - this game is one of my favorite Indie releases to date. It's beautiful to behold, controls flawlessly (played using a 360 controller) and the soundtrack is AMAZING. The game echoes a lot of old school platformers but bring the premise to more modern standards.

80

A really fun experience.

If you ever tried Dwarf fortress you should know how this game is played, and how you build a successful town on top of a dungeon while sometimes besieged by monsters and ghosts, which is hard by the way. Graphics: Looks unfinished, but well the art-style fits and it isn't entirely bad. Bad things: The UI needs some work, the priorities of the townies seem kinda broken sometimes, and some sprites look like placeholders. Great game, and despite its unfinished state, a really fun experience.

80

Its hard, its pretty, its interesting and very well made.

I didn't expect much from this title, but it ended up being a very pleasant surprise.

Its a fast paced action game with adventure/rpg elements.

Its like Bayonetta but with more complex skills/mechanics.

The game is hard, it requires fast response and good use of the skills/magic at your disposal, the monsters are tough and they hit very hard.
The controls are excellent, very responsive and very well thought which make the combats hard but very satisfying.

Often you have to break your head to figure the way to defeat certain monsters and those screen filling bosses.

There are treasure boxes decently well hidden, that will give you better weapons and equipment.

The story starts out a bit silly but it gets interesting as you progress.

You get a lot of skills and magics at your disposal that you have to use inventively to get through the levels and past certain monsters and bosses.

The game is hard but intelligent, there is always a "smart way out" of seemingly impossible situations, and thats part of what makes the game so satisfying.

There is more to this game than meets the eye, its a very polished action/adventure game that will frustrate and reward you like the old school games used to.

There is no sandbox, no exploring and such (the game is on-tracks), but fast paced skill based action games dont get much better than this.

85

As great as it's predecessor.

Alone, a Courier roams the derelict area of a fallen city New Vegas. The area of New Vegas is filled with despair of the the world that has lost all hope on the evolution of humanity.

If you're familiar with the previous installment in the series, (Fallout 3) you will find that they share many similarities. Some of the changes include a change in the gaming mechanics, you are now able to aim down sight, rather than zooming in. An increase of quests, a change in some of the 'Skills'- for example big guns and small guns are merged into one, a survival skill is also added.

The Karma system has been altered as well. Instead of being entirely good or entirely bad your reputation differs in every location. Your reputation with the NCR can be classed as a 'Sneering Punk' whereas your reputation in the Legion can be 'Idolized'.

Again, the dialogue is unique and well-written. With almost every line of dialogue, comes another choice, another decision. Every decision branches multiple actions that contribute to the quest or even the main story-line. This adds a unique RPG element to the game giving the player a feel of individuality.

The visuals in the game are identical to Fallout 3, textures, designs and buildings. Up close, the textures are grainy and pixelated- though I didn't find this off-putting.

The majority of the side quests involve "killing him" or "finding that." Despite this, the game will not bore you, you will constantly discover new towns and cities which introduce more characters who each have a unique personality making the AI fell human-like.

" So much remains of what made Fallout 3 special, from the ridiculous cast to the joy of exploration, that there will be many willing to overlook all the bugs and glitches in favor of the weight of content that lies beneath."

85

Definitely one of the best Adventure games in the last years.

The story is very well done and keeps you going and interested all the time till the end although the end let you with a bitter taste, I think is the only "bad" thing in the game.

Voice acting is just fantastic, you meet a lot of characters through out the game and every one of them is perform better than the other, the dialogs are even better, funny but not too much and there are lot of references to games, movies etc just great.

The puzzles are well done, just logical puzzles sometimes very easy others not too much but never impossible, finally a game that doesn't use a jigsaw puzzle!!!!!!

The music is great too.

I haven't played and enjoyed a game like this since maybe grim fandango.

And its like 15 to 16 hours long so nothing short here just hours of fun =)

80

Weird and addictive.Give it a chance.

This game has a weird kind of charm that really grows on you. At a glance it simply looks like a throwback to the Heroes of Might and Magic series which is a fair assessment. But there's a good deal more hiding beneath the surface.

The game is filled with enough RPG elements and funny quirks that it held my interest from beginning to end. I really enjoyed investing points (i.e. Runes) into my hero's talent trees and seeing the results in and out of battle. Managing spells and inventory items was also fun and always a simple task.

What really kept my interest though was the overall style of this game. The graphics were by no means groundbreaking, but they put forth a big and bright cartoonish style that really brought your army and game characters to life. Environments were exquisitely detailed and really gave a sense of being meticulously hand crafted. The story and characters you meet throughout the journey are usually pretty quirky and odd. You can even take a wife, have children, leave your wife and get a new one if you're into that kind of thing. I also found much hilarity in some of the dialog which I can only imagine was a result of the translation into English. Some dialog is just too ridiculous and nonsensical otherwise.

I enjoyed combat throughout the game but admittedly a little less toward the end. By that time my Mage was so powerful I could simply decimate the enemy before the first round was over and this caused me to want to rush through that content. That said I did spend 30-35 hours playing this game, and I probably won't play it again.

Get this game for cheap and enjoy it. Embrace its quirks, its odd and sometimes flawed dialog, and have fun with it. Now I'm on to to the sequel!

55

A few years late?

My first thought of the game was, that the tutorial was made for 6 year old kids. It is very slow and you have to wait for it to be able to make your moves. While on the other hand that also means the game is very easy to learn.

Enemy spawning is stupid and they tend to go to extacly the same spot every time, not to mention the buildings and units are plain, there is no variety and its more about how fast can you click.

There is a good choice of weapons/armor/skills etc. I didn't see the point in being a magical archer or so to speak, being able to wield a bow, while also executing magical attacks and summons.

The biggest minus i see in this game is its graphics. Even maxed out cannot even compare to anything from last year, let alone this year. There is no V-sync switch (on/off) so you'll get constant tearing unless you know how to force it on your graphic card.

Oh well i tried it, spent a few hours on it and gave up on it. Its not a game that i want to play, it has way to many competitors that beat it 10-0, and these games are from 2009 or 2010.

80

A great progression of the Lego series

I've played all the Lego series games. What started out as an easy way to introduce my girlfriend to gaming, we were hooked fairly quickly, enjoying each new game as they came out.

Whats great about the Lego series is you can see how they try to move each new title on from the last, adding dividing screens, level designs, game mechanics, challenges etc. Some good, some not so good. And this is the same for Lego Batman 2.

To its credit, the levels are fun if a little linear, and the flow of the game is joy to play through. As with all the Lego games, there's not a huge amount of challenge here, but the pace is fast and varied enough to keep you interested, and taking down baddies whilst swooping through the air as Superman never seems to tire.

However, the linear nature of the game doesn't keep you returning to challenges to beat old scores or unlock new ones, nor does it capitalise on the co-op nature that previous games can excel in. Also, the open world map and direction pointers isn't implemented very well, and its easy to get lost and can be confusing. But again, you can see how the designers are layering in new features to evolve the gameplay. Maybe in future titles they'll improve this, but it is refreshing to be come across new features you haven't encountered before.

Overall, a solid addition to the Lego series, but not the best it has to offer.

90

One of the best Action-adventure games ever!

There have been many superhero games over the years. Some great and some not so great. In 2009, Batman Arkham Asylum blew us away with excellent gameplay, excellent story, and excellent graphics. So there were high expectations for its sequel, Arkham City. Those expectations were meet! Arkham City adds to the fun gameplay along with a rich city and enough side missions to make it far more addicting than its predecessor!

Story- 8.5: Arkham City's story is great but is also its weak area, only because everything else is so great. The story is very intriguing. All of Gotham's criminals having been thrown into a district of Gotham now turned into a super prison run by Hugo Strange. Hugo has something special planned for Arkham City. Along with that Joker has his own grand scheme. Throughout the story you will run across many villans including Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Ras' Al Gul, Bane, Deadshot, Solomon Grundy, and more! The story is great, but it isn't as good as Arkham Asylum's. Specifically, the climax and conclusion were disappointing, especially when compared to the previous game. It feels like their are two climaxes, one with Hugo and followed by one with Joker. The climax with Hugo was excellent! It was intense and with a expected but yet awesome surprise. I would have been satisfied if it ended then. But it is then followed by a climax with Joker. It was good, but not great. There is a fun boss fight and a strange twist, but having right after another climax. One climax is all a story needs. Don't forget that the story is still great!

Gameplay- 9.5: The gameplay is excellent!!! Combat is intense and varied, stealth requires skill and careful planning, and simply the ability to fly around a atmospheric, dark playground that is Arkham City! The entire gameplay requires skill and brains. Combat is difficult and you have to act fast. For stealth, you need to plan your attack carefully and die if you make a mistake. And their are plenty of Riddler challenges to test your mind. There are some really great boss fights! The most memorable for me were Mr. Freeze, the final boss, and Ras' Al Gul.

Graphics- 9.5: The city is visually stunning!! It is one of the most atmospheric worlds ever created! The animation is excellent! And there are almost no glitches! That is very rare!

Overall- 9.0: Batman Arkham City is one of the best action-adventure games ever made! This is a must play! "Do you know why? Because It's Batman!!"

90

Best F.E.A.R in the series. It's an original game and Very Scary

Don't let this games age fool you though, it was quite a good game for it's age and it still is. The story is interesting and it gripped me as I played the game. I never once lost interest while playing at all which actually tends to happen to me a lot playing today's games. It has it's spooky moments as well if you're looking for that fear factor, trust me on that one.

It's pretty much pure FPS old school combat and level designs. I can't believe this game came out in 2006. I still have my DOOM 3 CD's and that came out in 2004, not sure why I never played fear back then, maybe my PC was too crap back then.

If you're looking for a freaky spook game that involves hardcore FPS then this is pretty much what you're looking for. You won't be fighting demons in this though, mainly just trooper-type enemies that sort of resemble half-life enemies in a way. Can't really judge it's graphics due to it's age, so I'll just say that it gets the job done for what it tries to do. The expansion packs were just as good as the game was imo. I played straight through the main FEAR game with it's expansion packs.

Fear 3 pretty much kills the franchise though from what I can tell story-wise and gameplay wise. As far as I'm concerned it ended with Fear 2, fear 3 is a real big mishap that shouldn't have happened.

85

Great Fighting game!

Defenetly this game is one of the best Capcom had ever developed really, has it grows it's not pack with much surprises but it's a heck of fine game. I'll start with the new and added things in it. It´s still SSFIV but in the arcade edition there where just added new characters like Evil Ryu, Yang and Yun and Oni. There's and Arcade Mode, for getting to know the story of the character you choose to fight with. Training Mode, develop combos or battle tactics for yourself. Trial Mode it's a way to get to know better your favorite character they give you all combos and ticks available for each one. The Challenge Mode included in the trial, more like way to spend time and a classic one actually like, the give you a car and you have to break it before the time ends. Battle Log, where you set your title and some phrases, and get to watch your replays or others. And one i should mention before the Network Mode where all options are typical like any other fighting games and you get to fight players around the Globe. It has a stunning graphic and one (But not easy) command option, that's one of the problems that it's difficult game for people. I find it hard a bit in your way around the arcade. It requires real fighting games experience, lot of quick thinking and time to learn. All characters has its Ultra and super, you can only active the Ultra that its a devastating combo move when your life bar hits a certain point, and you can only activate super when your Gauge bar is all filled up, and for all the characters there are the effect in colour it opens up the more time you spend playing with one character. From all i got this is all for my review.

80

Lost Planet 2 is a very underrated game.

I Loved this game , and not everything amazes me anymore.I just loved the gameplay and level design, great soundtrack and good sound effects. Capcom can still deliver a great game, those people who say it's broken ,well.. the controls are a little strange, but you can tweak the around easy and play this game on a keyboard without any problems. Also put your mouse acceleration up to 32 and you'll be fine.

The story maybe not the most original but what is new and original in a world like this. Every 3rd person shooter is either a clone of Gears of War ,or the FPS of Call of Duty. Well before that there was Max Payne and Doom.So everything is a copy of a copy.

I like this game because it looks and sounds and plays extremely well. Retro-Sci fi all the way.The bosses will take up your entire screen.I felt i was playing an "Contra" game but in 3d with those giant bosses in the middle of the level and they keep getting bigger, the world on lost planet is pure awesomeness, the weapons and characters are really cool. I recommend this game!

84

An fun game that's a bit difficult repetitive at times.

I absolutely love this game. That said, it is not without it's flaws. The story is great. Nero is an extremely engaging character who is easy to like. Add on his 'special' arm and you're ready for some of the best looking combos in video games. Coupled with a driving soundtrack and a good swarm of enemies and combat seems like fun...that is, until you realize just how fast that swarm can attack. Early on, the difficult is never too much of a problem by the end, it is easy to say that most gamers will be frustrated. To top this off, you have to switch in the middle to playing as series protagonist Dante and have to backtrack through the past environments. Backtracking with a new character with a new move set through familiar environments fighting the same enemies is not nearly as much as it should be. Dante has some very visually spectacular animations and some of his weapons are jaw-dropping, but he requires you to learn a different strategy to play as him effectively. Dante does not have a devil arm; he has style changes. These style changes are cool but I found myself missing Nero's devil arm. The game is a challenge but there were only a couple of points where the game feels unfair, particularly a boss fight near the end that goes on for longer than it should. Looking at the game on a whole, it is an amazing game with great characters, a great story, great graphics, and great music that unfortunately suffers from repetitive combat, monotonously backtracking to the same locals you've been to earlier, and some moments of hair-pulling frustration and a relentless combat system that will always challenge, and potentially frustrate, the player.

81

Resident Evil 5 is very enjoyable.

Capcom is famous for its Resident Evil series. Resident Evil has been known for its tense atmosphere. Capcom's latest iteration, Resident Evil 5, continues its survival horror tradition with some new features. The game is more action oriented than its predecessors.
The graphics are very sharp as they show character animations very effectively. The lip synching is excellently rendered and the two characters move better than ever, although some may not like the slow movement of Chris Redfield. Chris does have the advantage of moving from side to side which can be effective in combat. Thus, the main mechanics of combat have not changed much in Resident Evil 5 and the third person perspective remains the same. Sheva Alomar is very good in cooperating with you and can hold her own in any battle. There are times when you have to stop her from firing too much because she can burn through ammo quite easily. The game does emphasize teamwork because you will have to work with Sheva in order to survive the battles with numerous Majini, bosses, and sub bosses. You will always feel like ammo is not plentiful so you will have to conserve it. The feeling of not having so much ammo adds to the tense atmosphere.
There are many interactive cutscenes that require pressing a key to perform certain actions. They can be tricky and fun at the same time but all it takes is for you to be ready for the required actions. There are also contextual commands that pop up when you are near an enemy such as avoiding an attack or performing a melee attack. The keyboards work perfectly for contextual commands for the purpose of melee attacks but can be awkward when it comes to avoiding certain death attacks. The F+V keyboard combination is probably the worst for avoiding attacks. The mouse /keyboard combinations work very well throughout the game.
The inventory management system is better than ever for Resident Evil 5. You can now use the mouse to exchange inventory items with Sheva. Sheva can also act as your mule so that your inventory is not overloaded with items. The use of the inventory presents a greater challenge in that the gameplay does not pause but I guess that's being realistic. There are nine slots available for each protagonist. In essence the inventory management is very flexible and there is nothing bad to say about it.
The boss battles are quite challenging and require you to devise a strategy with your partner. One of the boss battles requires you to use two turrets on a ship and you will have to command Sheva to use one of them. She is quite good listening to commands in the heat of battle.
The movements that Chris uses may be awkward for some players but it should be discourage anyone from playing this game. The game has enough tension, great gameplay, and a flexible inventory management system that will appeal to any gamer. It is probably the most action oriented game in the Resident Evil franchise. There is also a PC-exclusive mode called No-Limit. The No-Limit mode puts you against an enormous number of enemies and is similar to the Mercenaries mode.

71

Beautiful 2D platform, good soundtrack but very short Campaign.

Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken is a beautiful 2D platform with an amazing soundtrack. Unfortunately it's very short (2-3 hours a bit more if you go for the platinum)), so when you finish it, you'll wish there were more levels to play.

The game puts you in the shoes of the bada*s Hardboiled Chicken (called that because it's egg was boiled before it was born). You join a Rebellion against the bad penguins who want to destroy the world. Basically you have to solve puzzles to progress in the game with the occasionally gunfight. I say occasionally because even though there are many enemies to kills they don't really pose a treat. There are also three levels with jetpack action that are really cool and breaks the pace of the game a little.

There is also a local co-op option for the game, which puts you in the shoes of two small birds that have to rescue the general's daughter. You basically play trough the same areas of the single player game, but with some co-op puzzles to solve.

75

Everything you Love About the Series in One Convenient Package.

Doom 3 BFG Edition contains 5 games all on one disc; Doom, Doom 2, Doom 3, Doom 3 ROE, and an all new campaign Doom 3 The Lost Missions. it's hard to pass this one up unless you own them all already. While long time fans may not have much incentive to pick this up, new-comers to the series should find this a great place to start. The updated HD graphics and sound are a nice addition but hinder the creepiness of the overall atmosphere of Doom 3. That along with making the flashlight armor mounted take out some of the stress and tension. Aside from these minor issues, the new campaign is enjoyable and the original games (Doom, Doom 2) are as good as they've ever been. This is one game that shouldn't be missed. It has enough content to keep you busy for hours and should hold you over until part 4 comes out.

40

Not Good!

Welcome to postal 3. A broken, outdated and linear third person action game. Yes... LINEAR! The "outrageous" situations are now presented by a half minute of staring at a load screen with the dude talking, followed by a lame video and then the "boring" starts. This goes on for the entire game and each mission offers a bit of choice. Although non of it feels forfilling.

I principle, you can do everything you liked in postal 3 and much more comparing to postal 2. But here, and in third person, it just feels dumb and pointless.

The missions are much of the same and provide some funny weapons. The weapons are the highlight of the game. But if you have seen the trailers you know what to expect. Watching the trailers is more fun then actually playing the game since the action is very unforfilling.

80

The satisfying conclusion to a sweet trilogy

AC:R is a solid game; it delivers on basically all fronts of the Assassin's Creed formula. Great level design: check. Graphics: check. Beautiful scenery: check. Good story progression: check.

Assassins Creed games instill a sense of awe as you expand your influence over a new city, increase your personal arsenal of power, and enact 'justice' as you see fit. Ezio is god-like, so it's fun to play with his over-powered abilities. The conclusion is sweet and solid; I could not have wanted a better ending.

With that said, of course the game isn't perfect. It has certain flaws; den-defense is just as bad as it sounds. It's not -terrible- per se, but it's not all that fun, and can grow tedious as it isn't optional. You'll need to do it, and will be praying that your assassins reach max level so they can defend it and put an end to the pain!

But all in all, there are some issues here and there. Most of them are ignorable and trivial when compared to how good the game is in general. Because the Assassins Creed formula is somewhat worn down, it doesn't necessary give you the 'oh my goodness, this is totally new and amazing' feeling, so it's not necessarily revolutionary or a 9.0 kind of game. But still, sometimes, sticking to a good formula works rather well; why break something that isn't broken?

86

Greatest Lego game yet.

This game's graphics are the best from any other lego game. Characters are unique and the difficulty level has been raised. Cinematics are great, with the authentic voice of the actors.
The are various funny moments on the game, but the main idea is the action and the attempt to follow the movies' path, which is done perfectly. The player's hub is Middle-Earth (the whole of it) and the quests you have to accomplish, the riddles you have to solve and the lego items to destroy are unlimited. Each character has his very own inventory where he stores items and weapons. An important point of the game is the blacksmith. You can find models for items in the Middle-Earth and then you can craft them there. These items can be used by any of the characters. For many of these characters there are more than one weapon from the very beginning of the game. Legolas' for example has both daggers and bow and Gandalf his sword and his staff.

I would recommend Lego: Lord of the rings to anyone and i can guarantee than not only you will not get bored, but as soon as you will have finished the game, you'll go straight to explore Middle-Earth as in any other Lord of The Rings video game.

90

Amazing Open world game, lots of fun Activities to do.

So, its Far Cry 3. Its everything in one game :). From the very beginning of the game I just never felt bore. I get to do so many side activities in the game that it makes me happy that the game will last long. Even the number of main mission is not low too (its 38).
I get to capture enemy camps (either undetected with more xp or detected with brutal action).
Lots of gun and if you can activate radio towers (its like Assassin Creed's area unlocking tower with birds eye view). By activating the towers you get high priced guns for free. So here you have choice too.
You have to collect different plants or animal skins to get more storage for your health syringe, ammo, gun, grenades etc. So, you have to engage in this side activity too which is both fun and necessary.
You have racing, knife throwing, shotgun or sniper shooting, poker and other different kinds of competition to earn xp and money. Oh, Far Cry 3 has everything isn't it?
You have glider to get down quickly through air or use zip-line ropes and also you get wing suite later (like the one in Call of duty Black Ops 2).

Now a most interesting thing in FC3 is skill!! Yes, unlock new skills and play awesomely!!

No more wasting time, just get Far Cry 3 and play this amazing Action plus RPG game..

85

Great fun and Immersive.

If you are going to play Mafia 2, you are going to have great fun. This game is set in a beautiful fictional city which is doomed in the first part and awesome, full of liveliness in the second. The missions are awesome, each having its own difficulty. Killing people is just great. Running from cops is too easy, if you know how to make few correct terms. AI is good but it should have been better. But visually this game is godlike. This game has everything that Mafia didn't have. Like its prequel Mafia 2 is also set mainly on missions with a little to do in the glorious open world. All you can do is just buy guns, clothes have a snack, drink or get your car repaired. While shopping you can be a good citizen paying for everything or just go in and blow the whole shop, steal money, and clothes, guns etc. And if you are a Rambo then come back after blowing the shops and you'll see a POLICE! DON'T CROSS Tag. A very sweet touch :D. Missions are great fun and the ending is ultimate. But unfortunately there is nothing to do in the open world except concentrating on missions. Those who have played mafia will love Mafia 2 Chapter 14! The cars are just superb, with the varietes of sits backing it up. Overall this game is a complete package with some loose ends.

74

Dead Island is a great game, even thought it has it's flaws.

Dead Island is all about killing lots of zombies with tons of all sort of weapons. The main focus is on melee weapons, however firearms do exist too. Right at the start of the game you will need to pick a class type. There are four different characters that are available to play as, each with her/his own advantages and disadvantages. For example, there is a guy named Sam B, who will deliver more damage to the zombies but he is also slower and consumes more stamina points; or you can choose Xian, which is a faster character that delivers less damage to the enemy, but with a stamina boost.
There is, also, a good character upgrade system in this game, and it forces you to choose carefully how you spend your XP points, since your decision to upgrade your character in a way can change how the game plays. The skill trees have lots of variety that adds value to the game.
There are lots of different types of zombies and some areas encourage you to play them in co-op, since they can be really challenging while playing solo. There is a 4 player co-op option with the possibility of dropping inn/out at any time. It's a really fun addition to the game!
It's fun to use all sort of weapons and you can even combine different "junk" and create interesting, more powerful, weapons to use on the zombies. You will not fight only zombies though, there are survivals that will try to take advantage of the zombie apocalypse and will try to kill you. This is the part where you will need to use guns; and it's also the week part of the game.
The survivals AI is awful. they will stop all of a sudden and shoot straight at you, almost begging for the bullet to the head. However they will attack usually in big numbers, and each shot will take a lot of damage from your character. But guns are the week part of the game. Another problem with the game is the story. It is extremaly weak, and there is an awful plot that doesn't make any sense. The voice acting is also bad.
The rest is great; beautiful landscape, impressive melee game play, and 20 hrs. to enjoy in this game means a lot.

95

THE RPG of the decade.

Fantastic landscape and a world you'll truly immerse yourself in. Lot's of exploration and quests. You can play for hundreds of hours and still find new things and quests you haven't finished. It's a very ambitious game where all characters have voice acting with a huge and open world for you to move around in. The game is of epic proportions and is almost perfect in every way. What I miss is some more character depth from the NPCs. Bethesda should have let the voice actors play more whacky/cute/memorable characters with a bit more depth. I enjoyed Cicero for example and would have liked to see more of those sort of personality treats in the voice acting and character setup. Marriage could have been reduced to just a few characters and make the "relationship" with the hero a bit deeper instead of just saying "goodbye my love". Another gripe is enchantment being too powerful, it basically renders all loot useless as you can always enchant better gear than what you find by looting..Since it's a wizardry skill they could have made enchantment such that it purely enhances magical skills or adds a magical property to gear including the magical gear found by looting.

Overall this game is a must have, must play for anyone who enjoys a good RPG. The only reason I won't give it a 10 is the lack of depth/personality in the NPCs. Just a few more Cicero style characters who really have unique personalities would have perfected the game.

75

New innovative gameplay.

the new features that Hitman Absolution provides makes it one of the best assassins games ever , the new way of shouting , the amazing melee killings styles , and the great variety of weaponry make it nothing but awesome. we also don't forget the way he hide his face from enemies who may know how may like . and the game play makes you think of the time that the designers spent just to make it that perfect. and one of the cool features they got there, is only the people who were in the scene are being alerted about your presence. that way you wouldn't find everyone in the and anywhere just looking for you and try to sweep your head. and one of the great things, you have the choice of not killing everyone to pass through , and you can use your environment to help sneaking out, and that's pretty much cool thing , makes you wounder the developers didn't think of that before. overall rating of the game it's cool game and worth the play time you spent to it.

60

Needs lots of Work but still Fun.

When developing Ravaged, 2 Dawn Games promised to make fun the top priority, a feat they claimed would be more easily accomplished without publishers forcing restrictions on their every decision. Of course, choosing to create a multiplayer FPS meant they would have their work cut out for them, as they would be going head-to-head with some of the most popular franchises in gaming. To succeed, 2 Dawn would need to make a game that's not only fun, but also unique enough to draw gamers away from the Call of Duty and Battlefields of the world. That's asking quite a lot for an independently developed game in an over-saturated genre, but 2 Dawn comes through on their promise despite some problems.

The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which two factions, the Scavengers and the Resistance, battle it out for the world's scarce resources. The maps are massive, very similar in scale to Battlefield 2, which some of 2 Dawn's developers worked on. Some of the maps have a lot of open space to allow for wide-scale vehicle combat, while others have more cover and choke-points for fighting on foot.... If you want to read the rest of the review, I'll need you to follow the link in my blog.

89

Pick this one up if you are a fan of shoot em up.

A great shooter with an interesting mechanic. I've been playing these types of games since the 1980's, and it's always nice when a new entry like this comes along and makes the genre feel fresh again.

You have the ability to slow time here, which is nothing new, and the power up system is nothing too original either, but it's still fun and it works well within the game's well designed stages. What is interesting is how you handle damage. There is a timer that continuously goes down, and destroying enemies adds more seconds to it, while getting hit removes seconds. It pretty much forces you to engage with enemies, because if you just avoid them your timer will eventually run out.

Graphics are great(2d gameplay with 3d objects) , controls are simple and responsive. The story is ambiguous and difficult to understand at first, but this doesn't get in the way of enjoying the game. In fact it adds an extra layer of mystery which I enjoyed.

This is one of my favorite games of 2012 so far.

85

For a hack-n-slash game, this one delivers!

I started playing this game with zero expectations and with very little knowledge about it. Surprisingly, it delivers! The story is engaging, yet fairly easy to follow. The battles can get pretty intense. Almost every fight can be your last so the challenge keeps rolling. I am glad that death & reviving doesn't become annoying like many RPG games out there ahem WoW ahem

What makes this diamond in the rough shine are the character animations. From slashing motion to dodging to enemy death sequences, this game pays extra detail. Seeing a dead Orc ridden with arrows was pretty awesome. Hacking your enemies' limbs apart in a slow-mo sequence never gets old!
The atmosphere of the game, including sound design and level design, is top notch as well. I don't know of the replay value yet since I haven't beaten the game, but I have the felling I'd like to try out the Elf and the Ranger at the very least.

Where this game fail is the inventory system. The inability to easily compare your items (weapons, armor, etc..) is rather annoying. It feels clunky and unfinished. I was also hoping for a Dragon Aage-esque inventory system for friendly AI, but was quickly disappointed as you cannot manually equip them.

Overall, this game should not go unnoticed, and is worth every dollar spent.

85

Addicting, fresh and fun, great stress relief.

Great game to just jump in and play, often it is hard to leave. The combat is great. The atmosphere is severe and immersive but the mechanics lend to some truly hilarious moments and comic relief is here in spades. The visuals are nice and the sound is very immersive. The voice overs are fun and often hilarious. Their are plenty of weapons to choose from and the weapon types will lend to different play styles. There is something for everybody here.

There are many game modes: King of the Hill, Team Deathmatch, Last Team Standing and Team Objective. The latter is my favorite as the objectives are varied and fun and require teamwork and strategy. Bring some friends if you can though, for the most part people run around in total bloodlust.

Can be difficult at first- be sure to run the tutorial, and look for more advanced techniques on youtube. You can control your swings to try to get around parries and shields. Likewise you have to free form aim your own blocks. The system also allows for feints, shield bashes and kicks. You can also duck horizontal slashes then pop up and stab your opponent before he has time to recover, Be careful though, and alert opponent will bring that sword down on your head!

85

A Great Continuation.

Chaos on Deponia is the Sequel to Deponia, in which we continue the story of Rufus the dimwitted protagonist with his adventure to save Deponia.
Art design is as great as the first game, you really feel that you're in a "junk" planet while gazing at the scenes the artists drew, puzzles are actually better now, they have context now and aren't too hard, unlike the first game were some puzzles were simply outrages in terms of making sense, dialog is really funny and the story gets even more dramatic in the one, i heartily recommend playing "Chaos on depona", it's great adventure game that has great character.
tip: make sure to play "deponia" first.

85

A fun Platfomer with challenging puzzles.

A little rough around the edges with some graphical issues that will hopefully be patched, but otherwise a great indie game that's full of quirky flavor. The easiest way to describe Cargo Commander is probably 'challenging platformer + graphical nethack in space'. You're looting abandoned cargo containers in randomly generated sectors. Each container is essentially a platforming level in itself, with the added challenge of shifting gravity and the cold hard vacuum of space outside the flimsy container walls. Watch out for the former, mutated Cargo Commanders that also frequently occupy the containers. Definitely a good buy.

80

Red Faction is an innovative and enjoyable first person shooter.

Red Faction is one of the few first person games that you can call 'innovative' without expecting to get funny looks from people. It isn't just about running and firing from behind corridors - even though that element is in it too - it also puts platforming of all things in a first person game. The gameplay is great and the graphics are good - for a game of its time anyway.
The game is about two factions of miners that seem to be at war instead of doing their job. Maybe. But of course the enemy miners had to be extremely overpowered, with better equipment and weapons and vehicles. The red miners are just there to get killed. You, as a red miner, rebel and decide not to get killed. How come miners are using guns instead of pickaxes? No reason.
The gameplay is fun. Platforming elements are present in the game, and one of the most notable things is that you can blow your way through simply anything. Often this is necessary when they lock you outside and you need to make a hasty getaway from the blue miners. They're coming for you. You can go on and on exploding your way through an area and as long as there is matter there, it WILL blow up. Vehicles are also there and the weapons sound good.
Overall, Red Faction is an enjoyable and innovative FPS.

69

A half-hearted effort at recreating a great strategy game.

Having played the original X-Com series many moons ago, I was really looking forward toward this remake of a gaming classic. While this re-imagining of this classic game is fun to play for a few hours, it soon becomes quite repetitive and rather dull. It is not as engaging as the original, and certainly not as challenging. I get the feeling that this game was somewhat rushed. There are many video clipping problems, statistical anomalies, difficulties with multilevel environments and other technical issues, for starters. The maps are uninspired, limited in their variety and are quite "western", not displaying any significant variations regardless of the country you are fighting in. The troop combat can be challenging if you play the iron man mode (which is quite brutal, btw), but otherwise a conservative, methodical sweep of a map by your troops will almost always result in a significant victory. Honestly I didn't find the weapons, troops or aliens to be very imaginative or creative. The same goes for the research technology tree. The air defense portion of the game is extremely dull...barely any strategy there. Perhaps the most disappointing omission was the decision not to allow you to go in-depth into building your base and arranging its layout and defenses to counter alien attacks as in previous incarnations of this game. The game can be fun for a while and has its moments.

85

Such a great ride... A driving sim done right.

If you've enjoyed truck sims before, you have no excuse to miss out on this one. Great map, great roads, great trucks, spot on controls and splendid graphics. Any previous titles are a joke compared to this gem. The Scania Truck Sim was a good indication of what to expect from ETS2. And they delivered.

The pacing is perfect. The trucks never feel slow, the paychecks never feel like cheats, but the game also never drags. There's almost always something new to buy after each trip, and taking a bank loan means that you can get a nice fleet of trucks from the start. The AI drivers will never bring as much money as you can by driving yourself, so you'll still roam the roads of Europe in your tuned monster, while you rub your hands each time an employee brings in some cash. Trips range from a few minutes short to hours long, but there's great diversity and choice and you can specialize anyway you want. Do you want to take the slow and short route? Or do you prefer to stay fast on the highway?
Buying expensive garages allows you to teleport to their locations between jobs. And you do get penalized for traffic violations, but it never gets frustrating. The towns are small but they do feel like the real thing. And since time is scaled, you'll usually prefer to stay out of traffic lights altogether.

It will take you some time to find things which could've been improved, but there's nothing game breaking. And even after you've pimped your truck and own garages in most towns, having more money than you can spend, taking a 2 hour job that takes you all around Europe will still be enjoyable. There's nothing quite like it in any other game.

75

A great fun time waster.

Nexuiz is mostly an online shooter with team death match and capture the flag. Many may feel that the lack of game modes lets the game down but it didn't bother me. The maps are varied this keeps the game interesting but can at the beginning make it hard to memorize the maps. Memorizing the maps gives you a huge advantage. This game is all about speed, to win all you need is super fast reactions and knowledge of the lay out of the maps.
There are a good variety of guns, however some guns feel just to powerful while others extremely useless, often the winning team is the team that gets the rocket launcher or one of the other better guns.
Mutators change the game dramatically and have a huge effect on the result of the match. Some mutators are a little pointless such as mutator which mutes the game. Others such as strength or team healing a critical to victory.
Nexuiz is a good game to kill some spare time .
It offers great value for money and is without question a game that all should give ago.

80

A unique combination of puzzles, gravitation and shooting.

The great game that stands out with it's unique combination of puzzles, gravitation and enemy shooting. The story is not so deep-minded, as a game itself is short, so don't expect much of it, but gameplay will pull you in. Graphics are really nice to the eye, good animation, effects, good color mix, which suits the game story. To solve puzzles you will need to use your gravity tool all the way, thought every chapters differs with variety of puzzles and difficulty of them. But they are not that hard, when you get used to gravity tool and box moving, but they are entertaining anyway. There is only one boss fight in end game, but that is explained by the shortness of game, also voice acting of some background characters could be better. Music is average. But that are some small drawbacks of the game, so you should get it anyway, even if you are not fan of side-scrolling games, you won't be disappointed!

60

It's a funny game, but sometimes it makes you very angry.

The game itself looks good and promising. The graphics are cool, it has a good level design, good boss fights and all, reminding some old platformers (this one reminded me Jazz Jackrabbit on my first impression).

Too bad that the game have some annoying things that could let you down. First one, it's too easy. Some parts of the game could get tricky to pass, but that's all of the challenging stuff. The bosses are cool, but they're very very easy to beat. It's not like recent platformers, for example Shank and Capsized. Those ones had a difficulty curve, Hell Yeah it's the same. It gets even easier on the later levels, as you get more weapons and upgrades.

Another annoying thing, for me, it's the little cutscenes and events when you kill a monster. On the first sight they look good, but come on, you have to do this every now and then and you have tons of monsters to kill.

Overall, if you are a fan of platformers, you might want to check it out. Otherwise, I think you'll be bored with this one.

70

A fun game that could have been great with a bit more depth.

Classic sandbox space combat game that is very reminiscent of Dark Star One, Tachyon the Fringe, etc. which are all based on the classic game Elite that came out way back in the 80's. Nothing groundbreaking here but the game is polished and fairly well-executed. BTW I LOVE these types of games and unlike FPS games the genre is not overcrowded.
This is an iPad port, but the port is well done. I would have never guessed this game started out as on the iPad.
the graphics are FANTASTIC. Not top of the line, but if the polygon count was a bit higher then the graphics would be on par with a modern AAA title. The space stations are a bit blocky, but the ship models look fine. Planets and background textures are fantastic, as are most of the special effects. Lighting is, for the most part, on par with Eve Online, X3, etc.
* The ability to mine asteroids, trade, and run side missions is a welcome diversion from storyline quests.
Storyline can be completed in only 6 hours or so. But, the sandbox play style extends the playability.
Overall a nice diversion, but lack of difficulty makes the combat not as fun as Space Pirates and Zombies (SPAZ), although the graphics are much better, and the story and characters are slightly more developed.

70

Red Faction: Armageddon is pure destructive fun!

I'll start off by saying that this is not like Guerilla. But that doesn't mean that it can't be a great game as well. Instead of being an open world game like Guerilla was, your plunged into the dark sewers and tunnels of Mars. Another new thing in this game is that the enemies are now bugs for the majority such as Creepers. They're all very fun to kill with the variety of different weapons such as the rocket launcher, assault riffle, banshees, and the unicorn Mr. Toots that farts rainbows and pixy dust. The completely destructible environments add a boat load of fun as well. Shooting down giant buildings and staircases is a blast mainly because you get to watch your enemy helplessly fall to it's death. The next and final thing I'd like to say about this game is basically the graphics. They aren't stunning graphics like Crysis 2, but the graphics have a more cartoonish look to it that I enjoy a lot.

Overall a game that I'd highly recommend playing.

NOTE: Infestation mode is also fun

70

Interesting gameplay, fun while it lasts.

This game can be a lot of fun, it's based around the concept of fully destructible buildings, basically everything that is human-buildt can be destroyed.
Then you add an open map, some cover mechanics, the usual set of secondary missions and a decent main plot, and BAM Red faction.

This game has two big issues though, and they become bigger the more you play.
First, the game is solely supported by the destructive gameplay, and once you get bored of blowing up things, you get bored of the game.I think more games should include destructible environments, but it should be something to spice up the game, not the basis of it.
And second, half-way through the game you become a colossal force of nature that can blow up pretty much anything in sight, so it feels like playing with cheats on and you get tired faster.

Still, It's a lot of fun for the first 10 hours, and that's a very good point.

85

A game that shows an understanding of what we may see in the nea

America has fallen to a savage military occupation. Join the Resistance and fight for freedom in Homefront.

A game that shows an understanding of what we may see in the near future and intriguing interest into the current political situations of the world and what the results will be.

This game is designed to show a different feel, constant changing environment and a greater perception of close quarter's infantry with heavy vehicles, choppers and futuristic technology. The game is a online first person shooter that has large scale vehicular warfare. The design is somewhat different to what we have been recently seeing with the release of the several cod games and bad company 2.

The developers have made the game somewhat interesting which has constant variation on what you will see each game you play. They have introduced a new in-game sort of experience called Battle Points which allow you to purchase enhancements for the situation as you need it. The game mode, Ground Control that is specifically mentioned is a constant changing map as it rotates to different position around the maps. The game looks like it will have those memorable experiences that we have been looking for with the high detail graphics and a new experience.

The game shows potential of a different but somewhat similar game that we have been seeing from the first person franchise. The game shows a more dedicated approach towards PC players with the possibility of mods and larger player vs. Player games. There will be dedicated servers for PC, Xbox and PS3.

A different multiplayer fps game made by someone else, will be on my wish list.

On release the problems with the game was endless which made the game almost die within a week.

84

2D side scrolling fun.

The premise is simple. You have a base, and your opponents have a base on opposite sides of a perfectly symmetrical 2D battlefield. The goal is to push into the enemy base and destroy it. Both teams bases spawn a stream of little AI droids that will mindlessly push towards the enemy base on a pre-set path. It is the job of you and your team mates to work together and with your little droid army to make the push into the enemy base, and at the same time stopping the enemy team from doing the same. In this type of gaming, not being killed is often more important than getting killed yourself, and greedy attempts at picking up that extra kill can be disastrous for your team. Good team work and careful pacing will be greatly rewarded. The game plays like a 2D DOTA or League of Legends, but with a much gentler learning curve and a wackier theme. I recommend it!

70

Great game with fine combat, medocre story, and epic battles.

Many official reviewers gave this game a fairly bad rating, complaining of shallow gameplay, and a boring overall presentation, and I have to disagree on a few fronts.

First of all the gameplay is a bit underdeveloped, but it is competent enough to allow for brutal and precise kills, as well as sweeping destruction in the large conflicts. The qualm I have is the fact that your character is not made to fight many enemies at a time, without help. You will fight one, and be hit in the back by another, turn to fight them, and then be blindsided again.

But, with practice you can switch enemies fast enough to avoid this. The massive landscapes are detailed well, albeit a few quirks. The travel around those Islands is made easier by portals that link to one another and these are generously placed, although some tedious walking is needed at points. The massive battles in this game are the highlights, with hundreds of units on the screen at a time, both allies and enemies.

Also the help of dragons through a cool targeting systems adds scale to these fights. The tremendous number of characters onscreen is slightly overwhelming, but gives a sense of anarchy and battle confusion. This game does everything well, but nothing great nor awful. It could be more, but I am satisfied enough to play this one to the end.

90

a Great and Classical FPS.

With a new system this game runs smooth as butter, without the depth of field (did wonders to my fps) even better. Visuals are gorgeous, mixed with the perfect post apocalyptic setting that makes me want to stay in the game forever and just stare at the screen in awe. Feeling of claustrophobia, desperation, sadness follows you throughout the game. This makes for one of the best atmospheres ever in games.

Once i grabbed it I couldn't let go, I just kept going on wanting to see more and sink into this wonderful dark world. Incredibly addicting and definitely asks for multiple replays. I don't remember when was the last time a game made me so excited, especially when fps are in question. Among a pile of generic, boring copy paste shooters, this one stands out and it stands strong. Of course we have seen all of this before, but this time it actually feels fresh and unique.

This game hit all the right buttons in my opinion. Gameplay is good, mission progress fast paced and straight forward (linearity actually fits perfectly) story is decent and mysterious, very creepy atmosphere. Lack of ammo and fast enemies result in some hectic scenarios, a few times it made me almost jump out of my chair. Stealth elements are very well done, you can actually skip parts of the missions completely ignoring enemies or killing them from stealth. If everything else failed, setting alone would make me finish this game, luckily in this case everything works more then fine.

I enjoyed this game so much I will gladly consider this as one of the best fps games I've played. Maybe even right along my all time favorites Half Life 2 and Bioshock. Metro 2033 you are worthy.

80

Great combat, awesome maps, great graphics.

Well this has to be some of the most fun i have had this year playing games.Graphics are really good for a multiplayer game that supports up to 64 players. Combat is really good, directional attacks, directional blocks, armor matters, ranged combat.. .everything just worked really well.The maps are also really nice and well done, i cant think of any map that I don't enjoy playing.Character customization also brings something else to the game and adds a bit of depth to the game as most people have different load out for their characters.There are a few little bugs and only two games modes but they are patching the game quite a lot and they are also working on adding more map types, mainly objective maps Also during beta combat was very much a swing fest, this has mostly been fixed and they are constantly trying to balance things out.

90

Great game. Story is interesting. Highly recommend it.

An overall good game with lots of small missions in between that you can choose to participate within or simply exclude. Choosing how you wish to go ahead with each stage is also quite unique. Choosing whether or not to go in and kill everyone, or whether you prefer to take the stealthy route and avoid any form of conflict.

The game offers incentives for helping people out by getting safe combination codes which can reward you with a lot of coin or blueprints for upgrades. I hope to see a sequel in the near future or perhaps a DLC with new side content.\r\n\r\nAt the end of each stage you are given a general statement or scoreboard showing your kills and so on. Allowing you to replay certain parts of the story in order to obtain more achievements (or simply re-do it again to avoid any detection or combat).

Personally I enjoy going into each story twice. Once with all out combat. The second time, avoid any detection or set off any alarms. The AI is "just right". Even though at times it may feel somewhat unrealistic being only a few inches away from an enemy and being undetected, even though your head is sticking out of the wall.

85

The assasain game that all stealth players need to play.

Hitman: Blood Money is an impressive improvement of the 3 other games in it series, graphics and gameplay wise. This is a single-player game only with no game add-ons available. Their are many creative missions in which you have to assasinate a particular person or people. Their are 2 ways to complete levels, guns blazing or the stealth way. The game is not as fun when you go in guns blazing. The stealth way makes mission longer, more exciting, and challenging. If your stealthy, their are many possiblee ways to kill your target without getting caught by camera, secruity, or civilians. Also the ability to disguise your self as an important person, depending were the location is. Weapon customization is really big in this game with the possibilities of using the weapons you find in missions. Another feature I'm impresssed with was being able to switch from first-person to third-person. Overall, its a very well put to together game and I recommend it to all types of shooter fans.

76

Hearthfire is worth the money

Hearthfire is a good DLC as it gives you a bit more freedom. My thoughts on the ability to build your own house in Morthal, Dawnstar and Falkreath is what I said earlier is gives you a bit more freedom as you can choose what to have in it. You could choose to have an alchemy lab, storage room, kitchen, bedroom and more but the thing is that you are only allowed 3 of those.

The best feature by far for me is the ability to adopt children but you can only adopt 2 children so choose wisely. Yes some people will say "Why can't we just make our own children." You tell me how your going to do that because remember you can have same-sex marriages in Skyrim. You can buy your children clothes, sweets and toys. Once I came home to find my two children cussing each other so I told them off -_-

However overall I think Hearthfire is a great addition to an already brilliant game.

80

Hypothetical genocide has never been so fun or so evil.

DEFCON has a great title, really. Everybody Dies. It's fantastic, because it shows the key idea behind the game. Ever bored in the office and in need of something over than Football Manager? DEFCON is your game.

It's got a certain degree of beauty to it, whether its the wonderfully crafted visual style, like a neon sign of terror, or just the sheer giddiness you get when you destroy a city and '6.5 million dead' pops up on screen. It's such a simple strategy game, but the essence is so deep, almost like modern warfare itself, with its laser targeting and almost AI-controlled bombs, it still requires a degree of skill to know just what the hell you are doing. Playing a power-hungry genocider has never been this fun.

There are setbacks, however. The fact that this is multiplayer focused means that single player is just not as fun, almost boring. It also seems a little confusing at first, I struggled with the general concept and took a while to understand what was going on.

Overall, DEFCON is a great game to run in the background, it's fun, it's great to look at, and it turns you into a temporary mass murderer. What's not to like?

89

Well worth its price and Sherlock Holmes franchise in general.

20 minutes into this game, I felt sudden urge to write an e-mail to developers, with thanks to making so good-looking and exciting game about my most favourite detective. While previous games felt budget-valued and struggling to fit into modern game market, Testament of Sherlock Holmes comes as a winner. Seriously, this tops every other Sherlock Holmes game made so far, for the first 3 hours, it feels like magic. Visuals look wonderful compared to last installment and have much more artistic direction in it. Although it's not built on last-gen engine, it's still visible that it's pushed to the limits.\r\nSound is wonderful also. If anyone has complaints about voice acting, mostly I didn't notice any, aside few strange characters, who have too little lines to be disturbing anyway. Music suits well and enriches atmosphere as it should.Now... difficulty is strange with this one. The puzzle mini-games are insanely difficult (but option to skip then once you messed up few times is nice), the point'n'click-style puzzles are about average, no problem for veteran adventurer... but a bit hard for beginners. And for general detective work, it varies from simple to strange -- Jack the Ripper case felt much more logical and straightforward, while here it's more of a guesswork.rnrnThe kids-finding-book cutscenes felt a bit cheesy, but they are brief and don't disrupt game story itself in any way.rnrnThe game is quite long, and story takes some strange and unexpected twists, but in the end, you feel like you've watched an awesome 10-15 hour movie.rnrn

70

Still a Great game but hasn't aged that well

I was highly anticipated for this HD remake of the Sega Dreamcast classic: Jet Set Radio. The graphics were polished, but was not impressive. I expected the game to look much nicer, and the camera fix button was highly annoying, especially because it is the same button used to spray paint the walls, and the camera was just flailing all over the place. The graphic design on the characters were very dull, and could have been improved, and the game could have used improvements to having tricks, like Jet Set Radio Future (which had everything right). But the goods of this game are:A very good classic soundtrack, Reliving the old days of a classic game on a modern console. If you are a true die hard fan of the game, pick it up, it is worth the 800 points, but if you are not, you will be disappointed.

95

A true RPG masterpiece.

Dark Souls is a true masterpiece all the way through. It is a fantastic gaming experience from start to finish. When you first start off, you're not explained what's going on, nor what you should be doing here. But you start putting the pieces together, and much because of this very laid back story telling, Dark Souls forces you to involve and take interest in every single detail in this dark mysterious world. I can honestly say that no RPG has ever quite sucked me in like From Softwares Souls games.

Running around in this beautiful landscape, hearing only your footsteps and the blowing of the wind, makes the enemy around every corner feel even that more threatening. And I can asure you, they are threatening. From the smallest insect and weakest undead to fire breathing dragons and giant soldiers the size of sky-scrapers, everything can kill you in Dark Souls. If you're not focused going up against a wasp, you will die, and one small miss-step will often see you falling to your death.

70

Pretty good FPS but gets repetitive and shallow very fast.

This sequel brings more and flashier effects to weapons as well as shields, class mods, grenade types, and relics. It offers just more things compared to the first game. It's strongest point is that it has a richer gameplay

Graphically the game is ok if you like cartoony graphics but i would prefer something more realistic that would take advantage of modern PC tech

The single player perspective story it is poor the main quest pits you against an idiot called "Handsome Jack," who comes across as a one-note villain with very little to offer after the first few hours. I kept expecting some sort of meaningful progression for the villain, but the end result is a flat character that's more annoying than anything else and the ending is not that great either. Also most missions after a while follow the same repetitive pattern with enemies always getting spawned out of thin air and mostly about killing someone or follow "A to B" kind of missions...Nothing special and nothing new

But story and characters and missions are not everything...Perhaps after spending many hours with the first game has rendered me resilient to some of the new game's charms, but as someone who went into Borderlands 2 with a sickness that I thought only more Borderlands could cure, I'm left feeling like I didn't receive a full dose.

79

Hard at first. But Rewarding later on.

This depicts the Roman era very good, almost too good. Though some stuff in the game could be changed, it's really quite good. The battles are the highlight of the game I must say. The campaign map is real cool and there's a lot of stuff to do with each faction. I always have to use the cheat that gets you more money because its impossible to not to go bankrupt for some reason. But other than that it's cool! There are a lot of factions to control, like the Franks, the Saxons, the Roman Empire (east and west), the Vandals, the Goths, and many more! I really didn't play this game as much as others. I had fun though. The game is pretty hard for beginners and it was hard for me. I got over it! The graphics are pretty good and so is the landscape and building design. If you ever want to have a really dramatic battle with troops deserting; mass murder; giant elephants; trebuchets that are annihilating enemy formations and causing panic. Then you should play this game! One of the best RTS games I've played.

85

A very brutal and Scary game

Masterful brutal street style combat tactics, fitting for the atomosphere it creates. The school level is the most creepy, the abandoned department store ranks a close second. The tension of having to chase down suspects, gather evidence to prove your innocence, and elude the FEDS, can become overwhelming to the gamer, which is exactly what you want, to feel CONDEMNED! They even make your partner disappear, and even get captured at one point, making it all the more frightening and nerve bending to move forward to see what's next. Brainpower is needed along with the right weapon selection, although you have a vast amount to choose from, some (such as a pipe) can be inappropiate against a bigger foe with a machinegun! Choose carefully...... Also pay attention to vital clues that might help in the investigation as to who the real serial killer is.. you will encounter quite a few in your quest towards the truth. The end is very surprising!!!!!!

75

Ambitious with Great Potential... but unfinished

When I had seen the trailers and the promos of Alpha Protocol (AP), I was really excited. But later, when the game came out followed by review after review criticizing it for its bugs, gameplay, and a lot of other things, it felt like a big letdown. But I still went and got the game. When I finally got down to playing it, at first I was really irritated 'coz the game kept stuttering at random and even turning down the graphics to the minimum (that took a lot of resolve!) didnt help. So, I turned back the graphics to max again and went on playing ignoring the frame rates and guess what? I really started enjoying the game!
Aside from the obvious problems, AP offered a nice story, cool gameplay though a bit similar to the Splinter Cell games, a lead character who is at par with Ezio Auditore in saying the right thing at the right time. Though the game is not as good as Mass Effect 2, I liked the dialogue options and the resulting dialogues in AP over ME2.
Every action in AP has a time limit; while this may seem irritating at first, it makes the game more realistic 'coz no one waits 5 minutes to say something when someone has a gun on you! Even the way that other people react to your words is good. The gameplay is standard fare of spy shooters. You can either go in blazing through the front door, or you can slip in quietly through the back door while the guard is looking away. The perks also help to make the game more interesting where as the shooting skills make the game look classy.
The graphics is nice with a hint of what looks like cell shading to me and the different areas are nicely done, so that you dont get a feeling of repetitiveness. The dossiers seem like an information overload, but they all add up to the reality quotient of the game.
So, cutting points for the bugs, I would give AP a 8.5 :)
P.S. Time spent playing 20-40 hrs 'coz I haven't finished the game yet.

90

An addictive RPG-FPS hybrid that is best played with friends.

Wow Borderlands came out of nowhere for me. I noticed the review was good and the style looked interesting. But I never dreamed I would put as much time as I have with this game. This is a shoot and loot like no other. Basically that is all you do so if that doesn't sound like a blast then this game is not for you.

There are four characters to choose from each with there own unique style and powers. This is why it is best to play with four players. The game takes place on the planet Pandora. The graphical style is more cartoonish which fits the game very well. There are endless amount of missions and especially with this GOTY edition. The add on packs are all good, well not the underdome it is fairly lame. You level up like an RPG and the game controls like the COD games. You will find hundreds upon hundreds of guns.

There are a couple of things that could be better. After awhile it becomes somewhat monotonous looting after every battle and slows down the pacing. Also the main story is ok and some of the missions can become aggravating.
You will fight the same enemies over and over as well.

All of those complaints are minor when looking at the overall game. There is just so much game here especially with the good add on content. Other developers should take note on how to give gamers good add on content. A player can easliy get 100+ hours out of Borderlands. I would recommend this game to a wide range of players.

80

Not equal to Bioshock, but a worthy sequel nonetheless.

Aside from awesome gameplay and atmosphere, the thing I appreciated most about Bioshock 2 was its attention to detail and proficiency in developing believable characters and back stories which allow you to really connect with what is happening. To illustrate; (SPOILER) throughout the game, you find a series of very recent recordings by a man named Mark Meltzer, who believes his daughter to be inside the underwater city of Rapture and is desparately searching for her. It's implied the recordings are very recent and you are more or less following in his footsteps. At one point you hear him get into some sort of fight in the next room, but he's disappeared by the time you enter the room. You don't hear from him after that, until you pry an audio recording from the corpse of a Big Daddy. You listen to the recording and realise you've just killed him. He's been turned into one by the main antagonist. (SPOILER END)

Bioshock 1 and 2 build characters and backstories so well that you actually feel like you have a place in the world and attachements to the characters; something that is very hard to achieve in a video game.

Bioshock 2 was fantastic, but with the exception of its final act, lacked the grandeur, novelty and polish of its predecessor.

85

Highly addictive and awesome, but it could have been better.

Although my rating is a 8.5, I highly recommend this game because it does many things well, and it's highly addictive. I've had it for about a year and I have 186 hours on it. Civilization IV is probably a better game than this, but V has a more interesting combat system in my opinion. That reason alone gives V longer staying power. In IV, I just dominated everyone and there was no challenge unless you highly crippled yourself. That is true for V, but to a lesser extent. The primary issue with this series is the A.I. As you raise the difficulty, the A.I. doesn't get any smarter. It just gives them more advantages than you. I really don't like that. For V, after 186 hours, I have a problem playing it more, not because I am bored with the game, but because I have no challenge. On level 4, I dominate the world and on level 5, I die before the A.D. years start. I might try starting a new game on level 5 and see if I can do better, but it annoys me that the A.I. builds three cities before I can get my first worker. There isn't a strategy for that, and then the country right next to you declares war on you for no reason and they have unlimited units to fight with. That description is more from when I tried out level 8, but I still die on 5.

70

If you don't expect it to be a Gothic game , it's alright.

Played all Gothic series, this is definitely not Gothic.
before you start you must understand that this has nothing to do with Gothic series but the story line.

Pros:
after the last patch, almost bug-less (I got some issues with the water).
easy and lite.
you get to meet all the good guys from the series(but the former hero).
good graphics.
designed for entry level RPG players.
You don't have to have high end hardware.

Cons:
Most of the NPC's has the same face.
Too easy, the hard level suppose to be to normal level.
Most of the potions are useless.
it's not really a sand box game (open world).
There is no sign for the former nameless hero in the story line.
Designed for entry level RPG players
Lock picking is way too easy.
You can steal as much as you want. no one will stop you.

85

An amazing game, but only after you patch it up.

Yes the bug infested gothic 3 might not be as "tight" as the other gothics, but after a few minor patches the game becomes stable and you will spend thousands of hours questing and playing.... until your brain melts :P

As always the vast world in Gothic is yet to be made by any other rpg game, only Morrowind can compare to the open end style you find here, Oblivion is a cheap empty world with nice graphics and the Witcher is linear compared to Gothic 3.

Yes my friends the Gothic games live on, and to a true gamer are gems of the PC gaming world.

Now I find myself here in 2012 wondering why is the gaming world sinking into hell, and I find no answer.... I only find fun and amusement in games like Gothic 2 and 3, and more recently Risen, and soon Arcania which I await on hot lava :P

if you don't mind DL a little patch for Gothic 3, then get the game install it, patch it up and play you brains out, and honestly what game doesn't need a patch, even world of warcraft and starcraft needed patches.

The game play is hard, the quest is vast and amazing, the graphics are good, and the atmosphere is .... gothic :)

90

A Joyride That Should Not Be Missed

With every new Saints Row game that comes out, it improves slightly above the previous installment. Such is the case with Saints Row: The Third.

You assume control once again as the leader of the Third Street Saints. Just like always, you go head to head with several different gangs, fight for neighborhood and business control and ultimately battle it out against STAG, the anti-gang unit hellbent on your destruction. Gameplay and controls are pretty much identical to the other games so it's pretty easy to get into the swing of things quickly. One noticeable welcome change is the fact that you don't have to complete activities to fill up your respect meter to unlock story missions. You can play through the entire game without completing a single activity if you don't want to. Nearly every other aspect of the game has been tweaked. Carjacking is made easier with "bo-dunking", weapons and strongholds can be upgraded as well as character skills such as health and combat, and the character creation and vehicle customizations have never had so much variety as they do this time around.

Bottom line, whether you're new to the series or a longtime fan, Saints Row: The Third is an enjoyable ride from start to finish that shouldn't be missed.

85

a very good sequel and keeps high the Thief name.

This is a very innovative name. The stealth theme makes this game a "must have". at first i though it would be boring but as you can see its not. The way you have to complete the missions, the freedom you have to do them as you like makes it one of the best games ever made. Stealth is something that some games do not have and the ones that have it could not handle it well. but thief keeps its cool with its really good gameplay. I hope that thief 4 keeps the gameplay intact.

for thief 2 i wanted more levels and some more gadgets, but the ones that you had in-game were really creative and original.

Besides Garrett is one of the best character with all his dark personality, a simple lil thief past and a great story, the allies he has to make to proceed, how he gets involved with them, thats just all the fun in thief and more.

75

Loads of Fun, even if it' doesn't add anything new.

At first glance the game seems like a run of the mill third person shooter. But as you get farther along in the content and unlock more weapons it becomes quite clear that as much as this game is a mixed variety of things we are already familiar with this game is the perfect definition of a hybrid type genre.
Run here shoot these guys open this door, complete this objective, more bad guys to kill more doors to open. There isn't a while lot of originality here but they have managed to blend the fast paced shooting action with beautiful and sadistically satisfying melee encounters. The idea as role played in many of the cut scenes that the Ork horde relies on numbers in their strength as oppose to the Space Marines that rely on pure brute strength and lethality to dispatch their foes. And as a result, you have a perfect seamless blend of action packed shooting, and blood thirsty melee combat. Just don't expect anything too innovative and original.

76

it's Portal in a different custom, except it needs more puzzles.

I just finished it and would like to share my thoughts with you people. I will start with what I liked about this game then what I disliked on the other half.

The game has some potential but is not nearly as good as portal. The idea is the same as portal's except that it has 4 dimensions instead of portal holes. The puzzles are straight forward, except few offered a bit of challenge. The professor jokes were a bit lame beside his tone of voice which made me want to sleep (no offense). Also, what disappointed me in this game is that I've spent most of the time taking lessons than solving puzzles. Finally is the ending of this game which extremely lacks creativity.

What I liked about this game is the level design (i don't mean the puzzles, just the architecture). The pictures on the walls looked funny specially how they change when you shift dimensions. The cat-like mascot is really cute. Also the slow motion dimension which was the best of all.

In brief, the game isn't so bad ,if you like puzzles and jumping, and worth your money for the new experience. Even though It's a bit empty and lacks ideas. But If you expect a good story , you'll be disappointed. I hope my review was helpful enough.

80

Easy to play,sinful,alternate endings and just jam-packed action

It is I think one of the first FPS to really have a multiple ending sort of gameplay. I don't remember any FPS that really has such deliverables. It is always the kind of happy-save-the-country sort of ending, but this game is really different...

The game just keeps you going on and on, despite 15 chapters. Guns wise, I think I really loved the carbine because of the silencer capabilities. Grenade launchers and SCAR just were guilty pleasure weapons to blow enemies up.

Among the 4 difficulties, I played the 3rd. It was quite challenging, but you will get the hang of it. I must say this game didn't hit the high rates in my books, because of the enemy AI as they were quite predictable, though there were many times where they flanked me :P The AI movement is quite choppy, easy to mark spots. Snipers put up a challenge, and the heavy troopers really made me replay many times :D AI throws very accurate grenades, which really lures you out of cover.

The animations were good. Very well timed and made. A good introduction of natural disasters to really spice FPS battles in the field. Lastly, a very good message which this game is trying to send out as well. War makes us crazy, till the point where you really start seeing things. Lugo Lugo?!? Blinking lights, heavy trooper teleporting around the room, eyes going mad because the player is seeing things...Very much like F3AR.

Lovely. I'm giving it 8/10 for a unique FPS experience and once I was glued, I really played all the way non-stop.

85

this is the start of all stealth games.

There is something with the graphic engine of eidos games. The graphics are not kind of wow. The game has a chilling atmosphere. Pulls you in and then it's tough getting out.
The game is mostly dark, therefore had to play it with lights off. Music really compliments the chilly atmosphere of the game. The tasks are a good challenge. It's very funny listening to the guards talking to themselves.
Sneaking at the patrolling guards is really thrilling. More thrilling are the moments when the guards chase you. It's very hard getting them off your back.
The game has a lot to offer. The vast expanse of the city lies in front of you to explore it. The lighting is superb and you will always find places to hide yourself in dark nooks and corners.
Immerse yourself in this beautifully made game, It's a nice package, worth your money and time.

70

Stellar tactical war game that isn't just more tanks

Those condemning this game as simply throwing more tanks at the opponent haven't played the campaigns. Order of War is a great test of your tactical fighting skills on the battle field.

You play a colonel given orders from a general to invade Normandy, hold a line in the battle of the bulge, stop the German exodus and so on. In some scenarios, tanks are the answer, in others, artillery, some paratroopers, still others a combo. In the campaigns, you are given limited resources to meet your objectives. You don't have an unlimited supply of anything. The strategy portion comes in deciding whether to flank, drop paratroopers from behind, etc. You'll be tested and you'll enjoy the process'

Only have 15-30min to play? The skirmish mode is a lot of fun and helps builds your tactical fighting skills.

I highly recommend Order of War. If you're a newb, it's a great game to get started on. If you're a veteran, you enjoy the tactical fighting aspect of the game.

80

I Am Alive is a great game with lots of hard decisions.

I Am Alive is a very good game, with its originality and the way that it is played. I love the way that the resources are very low every were you go, with mostly having 1 or 2 bullets in your gun at one time, ammo and food are very scarce. This can make the game quite challenging because you have to think twice before making nearly all decisions.

In games i like the little touches, i think that's what makes a game unique to its self and I Am Alive has little touches that are special. For example when on low health it does not recover on its own unless you eat or use resources. Also, your pad vibrates to his heart beat when in low health. However, I Am Alive is quite a copy when it comes to movement. It is very much like a weaker version of Lara Croft. When you are jumping, climbing, and doing other things to survive, it feels like you have been there and done it all before.

In conclusion, i like the way that the game has made it it's own and it has a very nice atmosphere about it. Like there low resources makes the whole game be on the edge of your seat. It is a great game and i would recommend it to pretty much anyone really!

84

Best Tomb Raider game so far!!!

Tomb Raider Underworld jumps in where Legends and Anniversary ended. Amanda is still after your blood and the crazy lady with the wings is after something bigger. They have decided to work together against you as you seek for your mother.

The game has finally reached the point where I can say, WOW! The graphics in this game is mind-blowing. Each crevice and corder filled with detail. From lush jungles to underground tombs, everything looks fantastic.

Tomb Raider is all about puzzles. But in this case they opted not for almost impossible puzzles to solve, rather, they give you super large tombs that you need to explore to find the hidden switches, gears etc that might unlock one thing that you need to unlock another to get the door open...if that makes sense. I loved this. It just gave you even more the feeling of size and scale that's not been seen before.

The story line is pretty good, it looses it right at the end which is a shame, and the game is a bit short. I guess if you're one of those OCD types, you'll spend more time looking for the secrets hidden around the stage, that wasn't me I'm afraid.

Great game. Best Tomb Raider game so far!!!

90

The game is simply amazing!

Don't listen to bad critics, the game is simply amazing, great voice acting, great story, great music, the only bad thing of this game is that its simply short, probably 2-3 hours of game , but come on, its first chapter, the price is even low for this game, some puzzles are easy and theres is a lot of good humour in the game, I enjoyed too much of this game and I dont really like Point n click, just give it a try, im sure you will find a piece of gold in Journey Down.

76

Deponia looks great and created with lots of love

I am an adventure gamer, and always have been. A great point-n-click adventure is like a great novel -- can't wait to pick it up, hate to put it down. I wanted Deponia to be like that, but it wasn't quite for me. I think other folks may like this game, but it wasn't quite my cup of tea.

Deponia is a straight, classic-style point and click adventure. The puzzles, character interaction, and overall look and feel are very traditional. That's not a bad thing -- there have been (and will continue to be) great games that follow the formula.

Where it falls short for me is the writing -- the dialog and puzzles fell flat. Everything else is very well done, from the artwork to the music. (The voice overs can be cheesy, but that's also somewhat normal for this genre.) Without clever puzzling, clever dialog, or an interesting plot, there's just not enough there to keep me playing.

But, these games are also like books in that what doesn't float my boat might be great for someone else -- it's all a matter of personal taste.

The good:
+ Great looking, artful, colorful hand-drawn visuals!
+ Very good cinematic musical score.
+ Good length.
+ Solid game design -- interactions with objects and people is very fluid and easy, no major bugs or annoyances

The not-so-good:
- The audio quality of the voice overs was poor -- the sound was scratchy and low-bitrate
- The pronunciations of the English translation can be a little weird (minor issue)
- Bland puzzling -- I ripped through this game pretty quickly from a puzzle perspective
- Bland dialog -- The humor felt very flat for me.

80

fun,engaging, worth playing game!

The game is astoundingly good. Aside from it's somewhat tedious run-about door locks fetching mechanism, errand boy missions, and modest tokens and rewards! The story, game-play, and characters interaction remain decent enough and quite amazingly polished. I do love the story's foreshadowing, though I desired a real encounter between the brothers. Nonetheless, this seems a bit far-fetched. The game has great versatility, acrobatic moves, weapon choice and customization that would intrigue any action-adventure player. Alas, I hoped for the possibility of the player to choose whether to resurrect humanity or his Nephilim brothers. It would have been monumental if the player would be given the ability to choose how would the story revolve. Nevertheless, I do applaud the designers and game founders efforts, and hope for great and ravishingly interesting game-content.

75

A Solid Cover Based Shooter. Nothing new but Worth Checking out

This game could have been better, there's lots of potential there for it to be better and there's a lot they could have done with it, but overall it cynically copies the formula of other Cover based Shooters and comes off as a fairly generic.

The reaction to this game hasn't exactly been fair or balanced, instead of judging the game for what it is, a solid if generic cover based shooter like Gears of War, this game has been judged for what it isn't, innovative. Judging it as a cover based shooter, it provides a solid experience, the story is actually decent even though the acting is at times a little hammy, and the multiplayer is at least fun and rewarding.

King of Gravity is intentionally imbalanced and fun, other multiplayer match modes are standard and exactly what you would expect from a cover based shooter.

Covering the story, I won't spoil the twist but it explains how and why your planet is being invaded, and ties everything together fairly nicely. It isn't that strange a twist as far as sci-fi games go, this is after all an alternate universe, an alternate earth, judging it by how absurd it would be given our real world space program is missing the point.

Is this game worth buying? That's debatable, it actually is a solid game with fun multiplayer and the price is likely to go down, at the very least this is definitely worth a rental. If you have nothing else to play, check it out.

65

Didn't add much new from number 2.

Let's cut right to the chase: there is virtually no difference b/t Alien Breed I, II, or III. They are the same game with a couple of different weapons thrown in here and there.

If this is the first Alien Breed game you've purchased, then you may feel like I did the first time I purchased one of these games: "whoa...$10? totally worth it" and you'd be right.

...but if you've purchased one or more of the prior games, you would have caught onto the fact that Team 17 essentially been sly by splitting what could have been one game into 3 versions and charging $10 each time. And you might have noted that each edition follows just a couple of months shy of the last.

The result is that to see the story through to its end, its going to cost you $30. Thus, my score is reflective of expectations of a game that costs $30 rather than a $10 budget title. Sorry Team 17, I've been a fan since the original Alien Breed game on the Amiga, but this is a little crafty...maybe EA will recruit you soon.

That said, Alien Breed III is still a fun game, but don't expect anything but a recycled version of what you've already played in the first two.

Ups: more save points, more cash (makes purchasing those hard to get upgrades a little easier, but not much) and no annoying game destroying bugs so far.

Lingering complaint: Team 17 never fixed a bug that occurs mid-way through Alien Breed II which forces a restart if you don't save before. A number of people e-mailed them - no response. Get on the ball guys!

26

An awful, ugly mess

After a development cycle of 14 years (1997-2011) Duke Nukem Forever has finally arrived for Duke Nukem fans. A lot happened during the unusually long development cycle. How has the game really fared since release? Commercially it has sold well.
Duke Nukem Forever features Duke taking on aliens from the past Duke Nukem games. This includes the well known pigcops, alien troopers, and bosses. It doesn't take long to face your first boss after talking to ladies and planning an appearance on a night show similar to David Letterman's show and Jay Leno's show. You soon have to cancel the appearance because you find out that aliens are causing trouble. There is a lot of fun to be had as there are breaks in the action so that you can be entertained by the strippers. It's not as much fun as you may expect as it is somewhat monotonous. The stripper models look out of date and could have used more polishing. The game tries to add humor but at times it is not as funny as it's trying to be.
Duke sometimes has to use a shrink pad in order to solve puzzles. The puzzles are not very exciting but they are fun the first time around and having a shrunken is a cool idea. On other levels you will have to drive a vehicle to reach a specific point. It can feel a little repetitive as you run out of gas several times before you finally can stop driving and you're back on your feet. The puzzles are, in essence, plain vanilla. It is nice to have a shootout with aliens while driving. Otherwise, the driving would have felt even more monotonous.
The graphics feel like they are behind the times. The textures look a little dull and could have used more polishing. The details on the NPCs are also dull. Therefore, the quality of the graphics feels uninspired. After more than a decade in development the developers could have used the latest graphics engine to make the graphics feel up to date. There are problems associated with the darker areas in the game because they can be hard to see clearly. A better graphics engine would have made the darker areas easier to see.
I think the best moments in the game are the boss battles. You will have to figure out a way to defeat each boss as each boss requires a different strategy. The battles against the other enemies seem to drag on without any feeling of inspiration. The levels are quite linear and there are save checkpoints. The save checkpoints are reasonably placed so you will not have to go back too far if you die.
I will give Duke Nukem Forever credit for one thing: it runs well. I experience no crashes or other glitches. There are superior games on the market with crash problems. Kudos to Duke Nukem Forever for being able to run in a stable manner.
I believe that fans of Duke Nukem Forever will run to buy this game. However, they should not expect greatness from this game. If they expect greatness, they will be sorely disappointed. It is a mediocre game, although some will think it is worse than mediocre. It would have been a better game if the graphics had been up to date and if the gameplay had not been so monotonous.

90

Darksiders is a game worth playing

arksiders bring you a world where you can enjoy the scenery while killing demons a. astonishing atmosphere adds up to the entertainment. And the enemies and bosses that you can kill are just a blast.
For this game is so varied, I try to separate it and talk about each part individually.
Story:
Driven by vengeance you are the horseman of the apocalypse who is accused of bringing an early end to the world. So the journey starts well. During your journey you meet demons, angels and even a guy from the "Great Ones". Azrael leads you to finding the reason of the early apocalypse. But sadly the ending is a bit regular: "Kill the bad guy and win" while it could have the player waiting for a sequel.
Gameplay:
Combat: The game play is so huge in darksider. Thanks to All the moves you can perform and all the new weapons you can add to you arsenal. And even if one weapon has not many moves, it can be a lot of joy enchanting it with a unique enchantment. For instance "scythe" has few moves but you can add an enchantment to it that lets you collect more souls (currency in darksiders) and use "scythe" as a finishing weapon. When you access to your horse, you can have much fun riding it and killing your enemies. This is a little unsatisfying that you don't have your horse at the beginning of the game. Varied enemies add up to the joy of fighting. Sadly, the counter-system is not very powerful and all your enemies have a different pace of attacking which makes you unable of countering the attacks in a satisfying range.
Puzzle: One thing that Darksiders have been blamed for is its bad camera that sometimes makes solving puzzles a chore. While I admit the bad camera, I say a little mouse sensitivity configuration and a little practice can solve it. So basically I don't see any problem to that. Other than that the puzzles are so varied and none are that much hard to stop you. But some puzzles just take too long to get solved which may be good or bad. When you are tired of just fighting the enemies and killing demons, a puzzle (even if long) can be a great refresh. But normally the puzzles are continued by each other .

Soundtrack:
Soundtrack is very satisfying. But there are some sounds in some points of the game that don't help the enjoyment. For instance the sound used for solving puzzles is harsh while it could be light.
Graphics:
Even Pc version does not include much configuration for graphics and the absence of AA is very noticeable. But the overall graphic is just fine.

70

Endless Space has the basics down, but more depth is needed...

Endless Space is a great game. It has gotten the basics of management and diplomacy down, the graphics are pleasing, and the soundtrack gets you in the mood for some galactic exploration... but I just wish there was more depth to it.

The game overall is fun and a decent purchase for $30, but it seems lacking in some elements. The planet management, battle system, and diplomatic relations part of the game all seem to be missing the same kind of depth that Civ has.

Planet management is pretty interesting in this game because you don't manage every single planet in every single star system, but instead you manage the entire star system. If you build an improvement, the entire system gets the bonus effect, while building a ship takes the effort of the entire system. While this does make the game feel less tedious at times, it makes it much simpler. The management gets boring after a while and I end up making most of my planets convert work into gold or science.

While the card rock, paper, scissors combat system the game has is a "fresh" new take on combat, it all boils down to luck. From my experience, the cards don't really turn the tide of battle, because whoever has the higher strength usually wins, making the cards seem useless.

I might be spoiled by the depth of other 4x games, like Civilization, but it just feels like Endless Space could be something more, something better, and something much more fleshed out than what it already is. Overall though, the game was pretty enjoyable.

66

not as good as the previous games

First off, this game is totally to linear. There may be some choices in quests but in the end the outcome felt the same to me. Also the game is not a free form as the old ones, each area is limited and you must "pass" it to go to the next. The storyline is also uninspired. I really enjoyed the previous games ability to be totally different each time you played.

The graphical effects are quite good but gothic was never about the graphics, it was about the story and role playing. Also the new leveling system is not bad, it is very understandable and costs no money like before. But the challenge of training was part of the fun from last time, and that no longer exists.

I recommend just rebooting the old games instead of trying this one. Or go get something really good like Arcanum.

While I did try to give this game a chance it was just not possible. If I wanted to play a game without a storyline and that was pretty I would just play Fable.

87

great RTS

I just got this game like a week ago and I love it, it is very similiar to the game "Faces of War" except it has quite a few different weapons, vehicles, and ways (also controls) to progress through the game. I have to say, it does make you think before you take any type of action! I love the way you control your soldiers and vehicles, it is such a great idea I hope another game comes out just like this one! But if you are too lazy to "work" through a game, then this game is definitely not for you and neither do you deserve it. Those who buy this game and don't like it because they are too lazy to play it, are a total disrespect to those who made it. It's a great game, if your up to the task of using your brain and using your hands, you just have to get used to it.

The grahpics, sound, and gameplay is great so there is nothing to worry about! Multiplayer is surely different (as in FoW) and thats what makes the multiplayer wonderful! Don't judge it by the screenshots or the game cover, ITS WORTH BUYING!

80

The Best Miltiary Sim To date

Arma 2 has defintely grown on me, i have gotten over the fact that the campaign was not fixed and have focused on mp and user made missions which have proven to be very addictive. Obviously there are some bugs which remain yet i dont find them to be all that distracting and can usually focus and have fun without worrying to much.

The battles can be very intense as you have the ability to wage war with thousands of AI opponents and still remaining very realistic as one bullet can end your game for good, this is no COD or BF rambo run and gun bs this is a military sim and needs to be played as such in order to enjoy the game for what it is.

With that being said i could only recommend this game to those with high end pc's as arma 2 can be very demanding CPU and GPU wise, if you can exceed the recommended requirements then you should be able to run it fine yet it seems people with min specs tend to struggle.

Overall arma 2 sets out to do what it does best which is huge battles across wide open spaces with massive amounts of AI.